Central government warns against online deception using the voice of an acquaintance or neighbor.
6 in 10 Dutch people think a celebrity's voice generated by 'voice cloning' is real
Only 4% can correctly distinguish a cloned voice fragment with certainty
83% of Dutch people think voting clone technologies will be used in the future to mimic others in order to cheat people
The vast majority of Dutch people receive misleading text messages and e-mails from online criminals posing as someone they know or trust. With a voice cloned by artificial intelligence (AI), online criminals can now actually sound like this. The technology "voice cloning" is now so far developed that for many people real and cloned voice fragments are no longer distinguishable from each other, according to new research by the Dutch government with the cooperation of radio presenter Ruud de Wild. More than half of Dutch people cannot distinguish a cloned voice of an acquaintance from the real one. This is worrying, since online criminals abroad are already using this technique to deceive people. With the campaign 'Don't let yourself be duped', the central government is calling on everyone to be alert to online deception and to always check the sender of (voice) messages and conversations carefully. Even if it seems to be a friend in need.
With easily accessible and affordable online AI programs, the voice of any person can easily be imitated. In English-speaking countries such as the United States and Great Britain, online criminals are already abusing voice cloning technology by impersonating someone they know. Because voice cloning programs can now already very realistically imitate Dutch voices, the central government expects that this sweeping method of online deception will soon emerge here as well.
Only 4% of survey respondents recognized with certainty a cloned voice clip of radio host Ruud de Wild as fake. Even when respondents were aware of cloned voice clips, only half could distinguish between the original and the cloned copy. More than 4 in 5 Dutch people (83%) therefore admit to having difficulty distinguishing whether a celebrity's voice is real or cloned. An equally large proportion of Dutch people (83%) believe that voice cloning technologies will be used in the future to imitate others and thus deceive people.
"That the voice of someone like me, who uses his voice professionally, can be copied is already scary. But it gets even scarier when something like this happens, for example, with the voice of a friend or family member," says Ruud de Wild.
Online criminals skillfully exploit human traits. Especially under stress or in unusual situations, we are less able to see through the tricks of online criminals. If a voice message or (online) conversation involves a lot of emotion, time pressure, something serious or something that seems too good to be true, it is important to be wary.
Manon den Dunnen, Strategic Specialist Digital at the Police: "An easy rule of thumb is, as soon as you have to make a decision that is irreversible such as transferring money or sharing confidential information, step back and try to verify the information by other means. Even if you know that person well. That may feel rude or uncomfortable, but people will start to find this more and more normal."
The central government advises people to always do an extra check if in doubt about the authenticity of the sender of a voice message or call:
Break contact and directly contact the person you are contacting yourself. But on the number you select from your contact list or know yourself from that person;
Don't have a direct number? Then try through a friend, colleague or family member who does have the number. In any case, never choose the callback button that automatically dials the number the potential criminal contacted you with;
Ask something that only your acquaintance himself can know. That's not the name of your dog or birthday; no knowing, no what-questions, but an experience question: something you experienced with that person. With all other information, you have to assume it can be found out somewhere;
In conclusion, there is nothing wrong with hanging up. Criminals take advantage of your need to remain polite.
The survey was conducted from May 6 to 12, 2024, by Verian (formerly Kantar Public) on behalf of the central government. Radio presenter Ruud de Wild voiced a number of sound clips for the survey, which were cloned with his permission. In the first part of the study, respondents were given 3 cloned sound clips. In the second part, respondents heard 2 versions of an excerpt with identical content: one spoken by the real Ruud de Wild, the other by his AI cloned voice. The representative sample included 1,046 Dutch people aged 18 and older.
The multi-year campaign by the Ministry of Justice and Security and the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations urges people to carefully check the sender of online messages and conversations. When in doubt, the advice is: press, click or swipe away. At laatjenietinterneppen.nl, people can find more information on how to recognize this type of online deception and what to do about it.
Read here Research report Vote deception
