- One in four Americans say they have received fake voice calls in twelve months
- Spam calls are increasing rapidly, with an average of almost ten unwanted calls per week
- AI now allows fraudsters to clone voices with minimal effort
New research has raised serious concerns about the rise in deepfake voice fraud, as more consumers report experiencing suspicious calls imitating familiar voices.
A new survey by Hiya of more than 12,000 consumers in the US, UK, Canada, France, Germany and Spain suggests that these incidents are no longer rare or isolated.
The report found that one in four Americans received a deepfake voice call in the past twelve months, and 24% said they were unsure if they could reliably distinguish between an artificial voice and a real person during a phone call.
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Spam calls continue to increase
The report claims that the increasing availability of generative AI tools has accelerated what it calls the “weaponization of AI.”
“Fraudsters are using AI to clone voices and steal from vulnerable people, and the bad guys are simply moving faster than existing network defenses. We can’t expect ordinary people to outsmart artificial intelligence on their own,” said Alex Algard, CEO and founder of Hiya.
“We’re in an arms race where crooks are using AI as a weapon, which means operators have to use it as a shield. »
Scammers now imitate voices with much less effort than before, and these identity theft attempts often involve loved ones or trusted contacts.
This can lead to financial fraud or identity theft when victims believe they are responding to a legitimate request.
U.S. respondents reported receiving an average of 9.9 spam calls each week, which amounts to more than 500 calls each year.
These calls target seniors (55 and older), who lose an average of $1,298, three times more than young adults lose – with the volume of this scam having increased at a compound annual rate of 16% since 2023.
About 48% of Americans say spam calls are getting worse, about three times as many as report improvement.
The trend appears in several countries included in the survey. Consumers in the six markets reported receiving an average of 7.4 spam calls per week.
French respondents reported the highest volume of spam calls, while British respondents reported the highest financial losses among scam victims.
In all this, what are telecom operators doing? This is the central question that consumers are asking themselves.
When asked who was winning the ongoing battle between carriers and fraudsters, respondents chose the fraudsters by a margin of nearly two to one.
This perception can also affect customer loyalty. Around 38% of users say they are likely to switch providers if they feel their current carrier can’t protect them.
Many users (72%) are now calling for stricter government rules forcing telecom companies to respond to these AI-based scams.
Some respondents also believe that operators should share responsibility for fraudulent losses originating from their networks.
About 67% of users support some level of financial responsibility, while 55% favor zero liability protections similar to those used by credit card companies.
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