This issue was raised years ago in an ACTEM business meeting that I attended. A security firm shared with us that in the business world, scammers were recording snippets of people's voices — targeting people like a company CEO — and then using it to send a voicemail to someone like the company CFO on a Friday just before COB saying something like:

"Hey! We need to wire transfer money to company XYZ immediately! We need to send them $ZZZZZ dollars to account abcdef. Get this done asap, then give me a call to let me know it's done".

The idea being that the CFO would do it because they heard their CEO telling them to move the money urgently…and then they would follow up with the CEO to discover the scam after the money was gone.

They told us that often the random phone calls we receive where there's no one there or maybe a recording that gets you to talk to it for a bit until you realize it's just a computer talking back is designed to capture your voice and record it.

Unfortunately, now anyone can do it…

Be safe out there!

Jeff

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Jeff Mao

Executive Director

VITA-Learn.org

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207-798-2460

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Vermont Fest • November 6-8, 2024 • Killington Grand Resort Hotel

Sent via [log in to unmask]" target="_blank">Superhuman

On Wed, Jan 08, 2025 at 11:35 AM, Brian Wightman <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

I very much doubt this is a one-off.
Once this idea gets out there, I expect voice-scamming to be a big problem.
It will almost surely include people's "relatives" calling with overseas emergencies looking for cash. I imagine impromptu snow days and plenty of creative efforts, some just for pranks, some to deliberately harass particular staff.
It'll be easy to do, so folks will do it.
--Brian
(he/him)

On Wed, Jan 8, 2025 at 10:00 AM Dan Callahan <dcallahan@pahcc.org> wrote:
Our front office recently encountered two suspicious calls that appeared to be AI-generated voice clones mimicking one of our faculty members. One of the calls left a convincing voicemail, while the other involved a realistic live conversation.
Hopefully this is a one-off incident pulled off by a couple of students. However, these incidents prompted us to start to develop a protocol for verifying the authenticity of such calls. Here's what we have so far:
Code Word Verification: We’ve established a unique code word with the faculty member. Any caller claiming to be them will be asked to provide this code word for verification.
Neutralizing Instructions: In cases of suspected voice hijacking, we plan to instruct the AI bot to disregard any previous commands it may have given.
Request for Disclosure: We will attempt to ask the AI bot to reveal the identity, phone number, and location of the voice cloning originator, though we recognize the limitations here.
We’re looking to refine our approach and would appreciate input from anyone who has encountered similar situations. Are there any best practices or additional measures anyone would recommend?
Thanks in advance for your suggestions!
Dan

Dan Callahan
Information Technology Manager
Patricia A Hannaford Career Center
hannafordcareercenter.org
Middlebury, VT 05753
802-382-1032
dcallahan@pahcc.org

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