{"id":628800,"date":"2023-04-13T09:49:01","date_gmt":"2023-04-13T14:49:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.sellorbuyhomefast.com\/index.php\/2023\/04\/13\/ai-clones-teen-girls-voice-in-1m-kidnapping-scam-ive-got-your-daughter\/"},"modified":"2023-04-13T09:49:01","modified_gmt":"2023-04-13T14:49:01","slug":"ai-clones-teen-girls-voice-in-1m-kidnapping-scam-ive-got-your-daughter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2023\/04\/13\/ai-clones-teen-girls-voice-in-1m-kidnapping-scam-ive-got-your-daughter\/","title":{"rendered":"AI clones teen girl\u2019s voice in $1M kidnapping scam: \u2018I\u2019ve got your daughter\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

It was a dead \u201cringer\u201d for her daughter. <\/p>\n

Artificial intelligence has taken phone scams to a frightening new level. <\/p>\n

An Arizona mom claims that scammers used AI to clone her daughter\u2019s voice so they could demand a $1 million ransom from her as part of a terrifying new voice scheme. <\/p>\n

\u201cI never doubted for one second it was her,\u201d distraught mother Jennifer DeStefano told WKYT<\/a> while recalling the bone-chilling incident. \u201cThat\u2019s the freaky part that really got me to my core.\u201d<\/p>\n

This bombshell comes amid a rise in \u201ccaller-ID spoofing\u201d schemes<\/a>, in which scammers claim they\u2019ve taken the recipient\u2019s relative hostage and will harm them if they aren\u2019t paid a specified amount of money.<\/p>\n

The Scottsdale, Ariz., resident recounted how she received a call from an unfamiliar phone number, which she almost let go to voicemail. <\/p>\n

Then DeStefano remembered that her 15-year-old daughter, Brie, was on a ski trip, so she answered the call to make sure nothing was amiss. <\/p>\n

That simple decision would turn her entire life upside down: \u201cI pick up the phone, and I hear my daughter\u2019s voice, and it says, \u2018Mom!\u2019 and she\u2019s sobbing,\u201d the petrified parent described. \u201cI said, \u2018What happened?\u2019 And she said, \u2018Mom, I messed up,\u2019 and she\u2019s sobbing and crying.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\"Brie<\/a>
Mom Jennifer DeStefano said the voice on the ransom call sounded just like her daughter Brie\u2019s.<\/figcaption>
Jennifer DeStefano\/Facebook<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\n\"Jennifer<\/a>
\u201cI never doubted for one second it was her,\u201d said DeStefano.<\/figcaption>
Jennifer DeStefano\/Facebook<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Her confusion quickly turned to terror after she heard a \u201cman\u2019s voice\u201d tell \u201cBrie\u201d to put her \u201chead back\u201d and \u201clie down.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cThis man gets on the phone, and he\u2019s like, \u2018Listen here. I\u2019ve got your daughter,\u2019 \u201d DeStefano explained, adding that the man described exactly how things would \u201cgo down.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cYou call the police, you call anybody, I\u2019m going to pop her so full of drugs,\u201d the mysterious caller threatened, per DeStefano, who was \u201cshaking\u201d at the time. \u201cI\u2019m going to have my way with her, and I\u2019m going to drop her off in Mexico.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\"Brie.\"<\/a>
Brie was on a ski trip the whole time.<\/figcaption>
Briana DeStefano\/Facebook<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

All the while, she could hear her daughter in the background pleading, \u201c\u2018Help me, Mom. Please help me. Help me,\u2019 and bawling.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s when Brie\u2019s faux kidnapper demanded the ransom. <\/p>\n

He initially asked for $1 million, but then lowered the figure to $50,000 after DeStefano said she didn\u2019t \u201chave the money.\u201d<\/p>\n

The nightmare finally ended after the terrified parent, who was at her other daughter\u2019s studio at the time, received help from one of her fellow moms. <\/p>\n

After calling 911 and DeStefano\u2019s husband, they confirmed that Brie was safe and sound on her skiing excursion.<\/p>\n

However, for the entire call, she was convinced that her daughter was in peril. \u201cIt was completely her voice,\u201d the Arizonan described. \u201cIt was her inflection. It was the way she would have cried.\u201d<\/p>\n

As it turned out, her progeny never said any of it, and the voice was devised via an AI simulation like a case of long-distance ventriloquism. <\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

The identity of the cybernetic catfish is unknown at this time, but computer science experts say that voice-cloning tech has evolved to the point that someone\u2019s tone and manner of speaking can be re-created from the briefest of soundbites.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the beginning, it would require a larger amount of samples,\u201d explained Subbarao Kambhampati, a computer science professor and AI authority at Arizona State University. \u201cNow there are ways in which you can do this with just three seconds of your voice. Three seconds. And with the three seconds, it can come close to how exactly you sound.\u201d<\/p>\n

With a large enough sample size, the AI can mimic one\u2019s \u201cinflection\u201d as well as their \u201cemotion,\u201d per the professor. <\/p>\n

\n\"Brie
Brie DeStefano\u2019s kidnapper originally asked for $1 million in ransom. <\/figcaption>
Instagram\/briedestefano<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Think how Robert Patrick\u2019s sinister T-1000 robot from the sci-fi classic \u201cTerminator 2: Judgment Day\u201d parrots the voice of John Connor\u2019s mom to try to lure him home. <\/p>\n

DeStefano found the voice simulation particularly unsettling given that \u201cBrie does NOT have any public social media accounts that has her voice and barely has any,\u201d per a post on the mom\u2019s Facebook account.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cShe has a few public interviews for sports\/school that have a large sampling of her voice,\u201d described Brie\u2019s mom. \u201cHowever, this is something to be extra concerned with kids who do have public accounts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, FBI experts warn that fraudsters often find their targets on social media.<\/p>\n

\n\"Jennifer
Jennifer DeStefano was particularly disturbed by the fact that her daughter doesn\u2019t even have a big social media presence. <\/figcaption>
Instagram\/briedestefano<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIf you have it [your info] public, you\u2019re allowing yourself to be scammed by people like this,\u201d said Dan Mayo, the assistant special agent in charge of the FBI\u2019s Phoenix office. \u201cThey\u2019re going to be looking for public profiles that have as much information as possible on you, and when they get ahold of that, they\u2019re going to dig into you.\u201d<\/p>\n

In order to prevent being hornswoggled, he advises asking the scammer a bunch of questions about the \u201cabductee\u201d that the scammer wouldn\u2019t know. <\/p>\n

Mayo also suggested looking out for red flags, such as if they\u2019re calling from an unfamiliar area code or using an international number. <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, DeStefano warned people on Facebook to alert authorities if the scam she described happened to them or anyone they knew. <\/p>\n

\n\"Brie
Jennifer said that the AI was even able to mimic Brie\u2019s inflection. <\/figcaption>
Instagram\/briedestefano<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe only way to stop this is with public awareness!\u201d she said. \u201cAlso, have a family emergency word or question that only you know so you can validate you are not being scammed with AI! Stay safe!\u201d<\/p>\n

Her public service announcement is particularly timely given the recent spate of kidnapper schemes. <\/p>\n

Last month, TikToker Beth Royce<\/a> allegedly received a call from a mysterious man who demanded that she pay him $1,000 or he\u2019d kill her sister. All the while, a woman could be heard sobbing in the background.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, in December, social media user Chelsie Gates received a similar call from a <\/a>man threatening to kill her mom \u2014 whom she also heard weeping in the background \u2014 if she didn\u2019t shell out the same amount. <\/p>\n

In both instances, the victims forked over the ransom, terrified that the caller would harm their family members.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>
\n Diego Paris<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was a dead \u201cringer\u201d for her daughter. Artificial intelligence has taken phone scams to a frightening new level. An Arizona mom claims that scammers used AI to clone her daughter\u2019s voice so they could demand a $1 million ransom from her as part of a terrifying new voice scheme. \u201cI never doubted for one<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":628801,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30143,3620,46],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-628800","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-clones","8":"category-girls","9":"category-technology"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=628800"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628800\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/628801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=628800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=628800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=628800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}