CINCINNATI — A scammer is impersonating the voice of one of our WCPO 9 meteorologists in messages online using AI software.
A fake account purporting to be Jennifer Ketchmark is making friend requests on Facebook, and then asking for money in direct messages. The account tries to prove it is the real Jennifer by using AI voice impersonation software.
One message we were sent from someone who reported the scam sounds just like Jennifer, saying "I see no reason why you are doubting me, if I'm not Jennifer Ketchmark, who else would it be?"
This is not a real account, and should not be engaged with. If it reaches out to you, please report it to Meta.
Here are some things to look out for to avoid scams like this:
- Is the profile name spelled correctly? In this case, there is an extra "r" in Jenniferr on the unique profile ID (the words that come after the @ symbol)
- How many friends/likes does the page have? If it is just a few, chances are it's not a legitimate account
- Profile photo: Is there one? Does it appear legitimate?
- When was the profile created? If it is a relatively new account, it is likely not real
- Search for the person's name that the account is alleging to be to see if that person is still active on another page. Check with that account first before engaging with the new account.
This is similar to a recent "grandparent scam" we've reported on.
Dave Hatter of Intrust IT Security says scammers can now use free AI programs to capture a relative's voice, then use it in a scam call.
"With as little as 3 seconds of audio you can clone someone's voice," Hatter said.
Click here to learn more about that.
