by MTHULISI SIBANDA
JOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – THE Internet Service Providers’ Association (ISPA) is wary of criminals scamming South Africans, especially through voice cloning, in the run-up to the year-end holiday season.
Called voice cloning, voice scamming, voice mimicking calls or audio deepfakes, it warned the overriding fact was artificial intelligence (AI) could now convincingly mimic anyone’s voice.
South Africa’s official internet industry representative body (IRB) said with a 356-percent rise in impersonation fraud, according to the SA Fraud Prevention Service (SAFPS), there was a serious issue emerging that had been met with silence from the responsible entities.
ISPA earlier this year requested the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) to take action to prevent the unlawful use of mobile numbers.
It said voice cloning is the latest example of how we are beginning to not trust the phone numbers conveying information.
ICASA and the National Consumer Commission (NCC) have thus far failed to announce any steps to address the general misuse of numbers, ISPA believes.
“It’s been reported that up to 80 percent of South Africans struggle to differentiate between real and AI-generated content that includes voice calls,” said Sasha Booth-Beharilal, ISPA chair.
ISPA advises independent steps to confirm who is phoning or leaving a voice note or be skeptical, among others.
“AI doesn’t know everything, and this lack of intimate knowledge can be effectively turned against fraudsters using AI to deepfake our voices,” concluded Booth-Beharilal.
– CAJ News