Con artist uses AI to stage fake kidnapping demanding $1 million in US
text_fields
Arizona: A mother of a 15-year-old had a shock of her life recently when she received a call saying that her daughter was kidnapped.
DeStefano heard her daughter Briana crying helplessly on the phone: 'Mom, these bad men have me. Help me, help me.'
Afterwards a man’s voice came on the line saying, 'Listen here. I've got your daughter. This is how it's going to go down. You call the police, you call anybody, I'm going to pop her so full of drugs. I'm going to have my way with her and I'm going to drop her off in Mexico', DeStefano told NBC’s Good Morning America.
Again in the background, DeStefano heard her daughter crying for help just as DeStefano began to shake with fear.
The kidnapper unflinchingly demanded $1 million of DeStefano in order to secure her daughter’s release; however the man lowered it to $50,000.
DeStefano was at a dance studio at the time with another daughter when one person called the police and another called up DeStefano’s husband to ensure Briana was alright.
DeStefano took a while before stomaching the truth that artificial intelligence (AI) was used by some con artist to mimic her daughter’s voice.
DeStefano who did not doubt the voice on the phone for one second reportedly said ‘It was completely her voice. It was her inflection. It was the way she would have cried’.
Police have started a probe into the incident whoever those placed the call are yet to be identified.