Lucknow reports first AI generated voice fraud case

In the first AI-generated voice fraud case in Lucknow, a 25-year-old man was duped into transferring Rs 44,500 into the account of a fraudster, who used an artificially created voice of the accused’s distant uncle to narrate a distress story.

While confirming it to be the first AI generated voice fraud case, cyber experts said that in such types of cases, the caller skillfully emulates to be a relative concocts a distressing story, asserting an urgent need for immediate financial aid and the victim falls prey.

Kartikeya, a resident of Vineet Khand, said that he got a call from a fraudster who impersonated himself as his relative and told him to transfer the money in his bank account.

“The voice was so similar that I did not think that it could be an impersonation,” he said.

“The impersonator sent five messages of transactions of a total of Rs 90,000 and asked me to send the money to a UPI number as he was not able to send the same through his UPI. After I read the messages, I transferred a total of 90,000 from my bank account to the UPI number the miscreant had given to me.

"Luckily, some of the transactions failed and I lost Rs 44,500 only,” he said.

SHO, Gomti Nagar, Deepak Pandey, said that an FIR has been registered, and police are investigating the case.

Cyber expert and former SP Cyber cell, Triveni Singh said that AI voice scam is a type of fraud that uses AI to generate audio of a person's voice, making the caller sound like someone the victim knows and trusts.

“The scammers will often use this technique to pose as family members, friends, or even customer service representatives to trick the victim into divulging personal information or sending money,” he said.