After deepfake, what is voice cloning, and how is it leading to scams?

Technology has always been amusing to mankind, but these days, with artificial intelligence showing the best of its colors, things are getting a bit frightening for humans. For instance, voice cloning was earlier seen as a great way to play with voices and sounds, but the misuse of this technology has led to a wide array of threats and scams. 

India tops the list of countries with the maximum number of people falling victim to Artificial Intelligence voice scams. In a report, it was stated that over 47 percent of the Indians surveyed have either themselves been a victim of AI-generated voice scams, or know someone who fell into the trap. What is important to note is the fact that the global average stands at 25 percent, and thus, the numbers are over twice the global average percentage. 
For instance, an individual from Haryana received a call from a scammer, who actually used the power of AI to generate a voice like that of a friend of the victim, requesting him an amount of Rs30,000 as his disguised friend. 

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How exactly is the process of voice cloning used in fraud?

Well, every technology takes birth to aid mankind, but its misuse changes the way it affects the lives of people. Voice cloning as a technology is no exception. 
Voice cloning can be used in scams wherein the scammer only needs to manage an audio clip of a person. Next, this audio can be easily uploaded to various online programs that are capable of replicating the audio clip in a perfectly accurate manner.
Some of the most common online applications that help in voice cloning are Speechiy, Resemble, and more. Many of these come with free trial periods as well. 

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Is there any solution to the issue?

Well, the easy access to such online tools has made it difficult to combat such frauds. The technology makes the scam look seamless, making it difficult for anyone to differentiate between genuine audio and a cloned one.
Last year in the month of November, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission brought forward a Voice Cloning Challenge. The Challenge encouraged people to share their ideas for detecting and monitoring cloned devices.
An Impersonation Rule, that is going to help in deterring cloned voices is also being considered by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.
Such advancements to combat the increasing challenge are taking place all across the globe.

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