A terrifying new scam is sweeping across the US, catching people off guard with fake threats of arrest and demands for payment. The FBI issued a warning about criminals impersonating federal officials in phone calls targeting potential victims. In some cases, callers falsely claim a victim's Social Security number is frozen or that a loved one must pay for GPS monitoring to be released from jail, creating a false sense of urgency. The scam relies on phone number spoofing technology, which falsifies caller ID to make it appear as though the call is coming from trusted government agencies. Federal agents say scammers are demanding thousands of dollars in payment via prepaid gift cards, wire transfers, or cryptocurrency ATMs.

Chinese startup iFlyTek boasts it has created for law enforcement AI technology that leverages voice biometrics to identify a person, writes Nikkei Asian Review. In upcoming years, iFlyTek aims to use it in fighting phone scams after rolling out the voiceprint recognition system across the country. "Because recordings are important evidence when it comes to phone scams, demand for voice recognition is growing," said Fu Zhonghua, the deputy head of iFlyTek's research center. Fu further states that the technology is aimed to be used in law enforcement and phone monitoring to identify scammers' voiceprints and hang up, but it can also be successfully implemented in finance. Government-owned China Construction Bank is already using voiceprints to verify customer identity alongside passwords.

Set a reminder to buy bread tomorrow." What Italian restaurants are nearby?" We often speak to artificial intelligence (AI) voice technology without giving it another thought. And when that AI voice speaks back to us, we trust it's going to do what we asked. Many of us have become accustomed to communicating with AI voice technology in our day-to-day lives to help us with basic tasks.