Detecting AI Calls: Here's How!

Detecting dangerous AI calls is important to protect yourself from potential fraud and fake calls from cybercriminals. Clear verification of the caller's identity is crucial to ensure that you are actually speaking to the person you think you are on the phone.

It is essential to recognize the difference between trustworthy and suspicious AI calls. This makes it possible to distinguish between fake calls using AI and genuine (AI) calls, for example, from a company's AI agents. Most AIs sound like real voices, which is why criminals often clone the voices of well-known people to obtain money or personal data.

To protect yourself from vishing, hacking, identity theft, and telephone fraud, you should not take any rash actions or simply pass on confidential data requested by the caller. It is crucial to be able to distinguish between a genuine emergency, a fraudulent AI, and a harmless AI used by a company.

How can you detect AI calls?

You can detect AI calls by identifying the caller's identity, noting the time of the call, and paying attention to unnatural behavior during the conversation. You can recognize AI calls by noticing artificial imitation voices of acquaintances and unnatural interruptions in the conversation.

Below, we explain in detail how to detect AI calls.

1. Verify the Caller's Identity

The first step is to verify the caller's identity by asking for their full name and, if it is a company, their phone number. Google this name and phone number to verify their actual identity. Even if the voice sounds very authentic and genuine, you should always question the caller's intentions, especially if it is someone you know.

If the call is from someone you think you know, ask them a question that only they would know the answer to. If it is a dangerous AI call, the caller will not know the answer. The exact name, department, and company are to be asked, especially in the case of a questionable call, for example, from the police, delivery services, banks, or competitions.

2. Note the Time of the Call

The second step is to note the time of the call, as scammers usually focus on times when people are less alert. If you receive a suspicious call late in the evening or in the middle of the night, there is a high probability that it is a criminal AI call.

Be cautious about calls outside business hours, before 8 a.m. or after 6 p.m., on Sundays, or on public holidays. No company or government agency would try to contact you at these times. Cybercriminals deliberately exploit moments when you are tired or caught off guard, as you are more likely to react spontaneously rather than thoughtfully.

3. Pay Attention to Unnatural Behavior During Conversations

The third step is to watch out for unnatural behavior during the conversation and to pay attention to any irregularities. As soon as the call is directed towards money, the disclosure of sensitive data, or downloading of software, the conversation should be ended. Banks, tax offices, and government agencies would never ask for personal information over the phone. If you are being asked for sensitive data over the phone that is not normally shared by telephone, it is highly likely that this is a fake call using AI.

Examples of previous scammers using AI calls include requests to pay a deposit or to provide personal information such as your address, name, passwords, or online banking PIN. Even if someone claiming to be technical staff from your workplace asks you to download certain software for extra protection, this is probably a fraudulent AI call. Never give out sensitive information about yourself over the phone, never transfer money to strangers, and never download software without questioning it first.‍

4. Be Wary of Artificially Replicated Voices of Acquaintances

In the fourth step, you should be wary of artificially replicated voices of acquaintances, friends, or family members. Fraudsters are now able to take videos from social media and use AI to mimic the voices of the user’s acquaintances, friends, or family members.

You should be particularly cautious if these calls involve urgent requests to transfer money. Criminals are highly persuasive and use AI to make so-called deepfakes sound very authentic. When receiving these calls, pay especially attention to the tone of voice and listen to see if it differs from normal human communication.

When receiving calls from acquaintances who seem to be in a hurry, you should always call the person's phone number first to verify that they are actually in a dangerous situation. To be on the safe side, agree on a code word with each family member and friend that will be asked during suspicious calls to expose a potentially dangerous AI call.

5. Recognize Interruptions in Conversation

The fifth step is to recognize unusual interruptions in conversation. If the conversation is not perfectly flowing, if there are gaps in the conversation, or if you hear strange, inconsistent background noises, these are indications of an AI call. Very even or unusually long pauses between sentences and interruptions in speech in the middle of words are also indications of AI calls.

During the conversation, pay attention to responses with consistently identical delays or highly variable but recurring interruptions to identify AI calls. If the caller persists on a specific topic with pre-formulated phrases and repeatedly attempts to redirect the conversation to it, there is a high probability that you are currently speaking to AI.

6. Be Careful with Scare Calls

Be particularly cautious with scare calls, in which callers use AI to simulate emergencies. The perpetrators want to use these calls to exploit fears about people you know (e.g. prison, financial difficulties, accidents, or hospital stays). Fraudsters use the voices of friends or family members for shock calls with AI.

Scare calls are convincing, deceptively genuine calls that, in most cases, ask you to transfer money to help the person in question out of a predicament. However, never transfer money impulsively, do not discuss your financial or personal circumstances during such calls, and always hang up if you have a bad feeling. If you have identified a scam involving an AI call, always report it to the police.
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Can AI Make Phone Calls for Me?
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Yes, AI can make phone calls for you. It is possible to program AI to answer calls, understand the caller's request, and answer questions or schedule appointments. Many companies nowadays use AI to answer their phones and talk to customers or make outbound phone calls.

AI in companies takes care of recurring, time-consuming tasks on the phone, allowing employees to focus on more complex tasks. The use of AI as a phone assistant enables companies to be available around the clock, as AI takes calls at any time of the day or night. Companies that use AI as a phone assistant do not make dangerous calls and want to relieve their employees in the workplace by letting the virtual assistant take over routine tasks.
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Using AI Calls Wisely with fonio

Companies can use AI calls wisely with fonio, because we provide our customers with an intelligent AI Phone Assistant. Our AI Phone Assistant helps with automated call acceptance, answers frequently asked questions immediately, and forwards complicated inquiries to available employees.

By using our fonio AI Phone Assistant, companies save time, reduce costs, and at the same time ensure that callers are attended to professionally and reliably. The AI Assistant by fonio can be flexibly adapted to the individual requirements of the company, making telephone customer service more efficient. When greeting callers, it is explained directly that this is a digital assistant so that customers recognize the AI calls.

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