PHOENIX — Nancy Cooke's daughter was kidnapped by a drug dealer, and he wanted money.
At least, that's what her daughter's voice on the other end of the phone said.
"It was her voice exactly," Cooke said. "She said mom, they're going to ask you for money again. I'm sorry I really messed up, I'll pay you back, please give it to them."
But while it was her daughter's voice, it wasn't her daughter. It was a scammer who had somehow cloned her voice and was making it say whatever he wanted.
“I'm on my cell phone, speaker turned on for four hours with this guy while he extracted money from me," Cooke said. "It was almost going to be $1,000 total."
Luckily, Cooke said a Walmart employee stopped her from making the money transfer. And her daughter texted her saying she was fine.
They're so convincing that even Cooke fell for it, and she's an expert. She's a professor at ASU's Center for Human Artificial Intelligence and Robot Teaming. Her work is about finding the best ways for AI to coexist with humans. And she was almost scammed by tone of the worst uses of AI.
Authorities say these types of scams are on the rise as AI generated content gets easier to produce. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes warned about them back in June.
Voice cloning software is available for free online, and it only needs a few seconds of audio to clone a voice.
Experts say there are no easy ways to tell if you're getting a call from an AI voice. There's no watermark or disclaimer.
Cooke's best advice to avoid these types of scams is to create a code word with your family.
Police also said you shouldn't answer calls for unknown numbers, and hang up as soon as you suspect a call might be a scam.
Silent Witness:
Arizona's Silent Witness program allows people to send in tips and share information about crimes happening within their local communities.
The program shares unsolved felony case information in multiple ways, including TV, radio and social media.
Anyone who has information on a crime or recognizes a suspect described by the program is asked to call 480-948-6377, go to the program's website online or download the Silent Witness app to provide a tip. The identity of anyone who submits a tip is kept anonymous.
Calls to Silent Witness are answered 24/7 by a live person and submitted tips are accepted at all times. Submitted tips are then sent to the detective(s) in charge of the specific case.
Individuals who submit tips that lead to an arrest or indictment in the case can get a reward of up to $1,000.
Up to Speed
Catch up on the latest news and stories on the 12News YouTube channel. Subscribe today.