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As of late, phone scams have been to a significant extent made more professional by several elements such as AI, caller-ID spoofing, and the like.
Recently, Ana Kelly, who resides in the Etowah County area of Cherokee, received a phone call from a person who claimed to be a deputy sheriff with the Etowah County Sheriff’s Office (ECSO). The caller knew Kelly’s name, knew her juror date, and used the actual phone number of the ECSO. After approximately 40 minutes on the phone and with the abundance of claims from the caller that Kelly could be “gagged” from speaking with anyone, the caller demanded money, which was an immediate alert to Kelly that she was being scammed.
Local police officials and representatives of Talladega County Sheriff Jimmy Kilgore have repeatedly stated in public that they will never collect fees/charges/bail over the phone. In conjunction with this, the Better Business Bureau’s (BBB) Carl Bates has indicated that he believes these scams are very organized, international operations and not merely a few individuals working out of their homes.
Bezalel Eithan Raviv, the CEO of the Lionsgate Network, indicated that the available amount of personal data and access to AI tools now allow for the realistic spoofing of calls and the real-time creation of fake videos using AI technology. As the Lionsgate Network assists victims of both cryptocurrency and AI-based fraud, they emphasize that the best protection against these types of scams is to raise awareness of the existence of such scams and give people the means to protect themselves against them.
Practical tips that experts recommend if you believe a request for money is fraudulent are: (1) do not provide your personal or banking information over the phone; (2) verify the caller by contacting the agency or person directly by using their known phone number; (3) if you suspect that a request is suspicious, speak to someone you trust about the request.
The best defense against such scams is to (1) pause; (2) verify; and (3) do not act under pressure.
