The U.S. Secret Intelligence Service has warned U.S. residents about new technologies, including advanced voice cloning systems, that criminals are currently deploying to manipulate unsuspecting victims and steal funds.
The agency argues that criminals are deploying the technology as if it were real, and that unsuspecting victims will have already transferred their funds before they realize they are being scammed.
The scheme was revealed by Assistant U.S. Secret Intelligence Service Special Agent Joe Keffer, who runs the Cyber Fraud Unit in the Chicago field office.
U.S. Secret Service warns residents
Regarding new techniques, Keffer said criminals are increasingly using the Internet to manipulate and steal funds from victims. “Fraud incidents involving tracking of cryptocurrencies, while individuals are duped through identity fraud and fraudulent investment scams and are persuaded to change their currency from the US dollar to cryptocurrencies,” Kiefer told the I-Team.
Keffer claimed that these criminals are now manipulating their targets by pretending to be acquaintances. He stressed that such cases have increased rapidly over the past five years, and that several cases are being investigated by the US Secret Service every week. Highlighting the bizarre incident, Kiefer pointed out that criminals have recently impersonated the owners of Nothing Bundt Cakes franchises in multiple areas of Chicago.
“One of his employees received a call from someone posing as a business owner. They used voice cloning technology to disguise their voices to make it appear they were the business owner,” Kiefer said.
Keffer added that the criminals then persuaded the employee to take all the cash from the register and go to a virtual currency ATM center to transfer the money. He added that the amount of audio required for audio duplication is only about three seconds.
Secret Service officials urge users to be careful
“We’ve known for years that this technology exists, but gradually we’ve started to see that things like this are happening more often,” Keffer said. Cybercrime has become a big focus these days, but the U.S. Secret Service is still on the lookout for the cold hard counterfeit cash people use to make purchases.
The agency also shared another warning, noting that there is a new and sophisticated form of credit card skimming by transnational organized crime groups.
“We’re seeing them coming from different countries around the world and operating in the United States,” said James Morley, deputy special agent in charge of the U.S. Secret Intelligence Service’s Chicago field office. Morley noted that these gangs are working with local criminals to install skimmers at sales locations, and stressed that they are now updating their operations.
“The skimmer uses Bluetooth technology,” Morely says. “And when that card is skimmed by that device, it’s automatically sent over Bluetooth to that phone and picked up by your computer or phone anywhere in the world. So it’s not uncommon for a card to be skimmed here in Chicago and five minutes later redeemed in New York.”
Morley advises U.S. residents to call their credit card company if they suspect they have been the victim of a scam.
He also said that tap-to-pay options are available when available, noting that they could be abused, but that rarely happens. Both Secret Service officials recommended physically shaking the POS terminal to see if an external device is connected.
He urged users to be careful, as as technology evolves, so do criminals, looking to exploit unsuspecting users and improve their tactics and operations.
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