MILLBURY — The Lake Township Police Department, in conjunction with its Neighborhood Watch program, will host a meeting to discuss how scammers are utilizing artificial intelligence to scam unsuspecting victims out of money and their identity.
The discussion will be conducted on June 27 at 7 p.m. at the Lake Township Hall, 27975 Cummings Road. There is no charge for the event and no pre-registration is required.
“People are being scammed out of millions of dollars and their identity is being stolen through these scams when they are thinking they are talking to their relatives and friends,” said Ron Craig, Lake Township Police Department’s crime prevention officer and community policing officer.
Craig said the AI being used is so good, even experts are being fooled by the technology.
Details will be provided during the meeting as to how the scammers are gaining access to a person’s voice, using the new technology of AI to duplicate that voice, then using information that is readily available to complete the scam.
“We will also inform people how they can protect themselves and thwart these types of scams,” Craig said. “We hope the public will attend this Neighborhood Watch meeting to learn details of the scams.”
Once scammers have victims’ personal information, they usually find their bank accounts emptied, the crime prevention officer said.
All members of the township’s Neighborhood Watch groups are asked to attend the meeting as well.
Government officials estimate that $10 billion dollars are lost annually to various types of scams.
“We get reports on a regular basis from people, especially seniors, who are either victims of scams or potential victims,” Craig said. “We had one resident who lost more than $6,000 in a scam that involved money being sent to Hong Kong.”
Once people lose their money or identity to scammers, their little law enforcement officials can do to get it back.
“Most scammers are operating from outside the United States, so they are usually beyond the reach of even the FBI,” Craig said.
Further information on the meeting may be obtained by contacting Craig at 419-481-6354.
