Police warn of deepfake scammers mimicking relatives and colleagues
Criminals are using AI to copy faces and voices of people victims know, then asking for urgent transfers or passwords. Police urge the public to verify before acting.
Cyprus police have issued a warning about fraudsters who deploy artificial intelligence to imitate the appearance and speech of acquaintances, as reported by Cyprus Mail. The alert forms part of an Interpol awareness drive targeting deepfake-enabled deception.
Such schemes range from video calls by someone claiming to be a co-worker needing an immediate bank transfer, to phone appeals from supposedly distressed family members, to online contacts asking for money. Authorities say the imitations can be built from very little material found online and are therefore difficult to recognise.
Officers advise cutting the call and ringing the person back on a number already known to be genuine, never sending funds without separate confirmation, and reporting suspected cases to police and, where money has gone out, to the bank.
What it means for residents
For anyone living on the island, the practical takeaway is that a recognisable face on a screen no longer settles anything. The habits below cost nothing and close off most of the risk.
- Agree a code word with close family and with colleagues who handle payments, and use it whenever money or passwords come up.
- Call back on a stored number rather than one supplied in the message, and treat urgency and secrecy as red flags.
- Act fast if hit — notify your bank the same day to freeze or recall a transfer, then file a report with police.
This text is written from the source article and is not a translation of it.
