Learn to detect a deepfake voice with an Elon Musk clone

BY KERRY TOMLINSON, AMPERE NEWS

Fake voice attacks are coming in through your phone and your social media. A new round of Elon Musk fakes shows how criminals are using these clones against you and how you can detect them.

In this latest scam ad on YouTube, the Elon clone claims you're one of 45 people he's hand-picked to try out his new money-making venture.

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$1000 a day

Fake Elon Musk can't pronounce his own name and is really bad at math. But he's not a total loss. He also offers up some clues on how to uncover other voice fakers in your social media.

"I'm Eye-lon Musk, and I don't want anything from you," he says, looking into the camera.

But he does. He claims that you're one of the chosen few to put his revolutionary new trading software to work and earn $1,000 every day for the rest of your life. That’s $1,000 a day, $7,000 a week, and $27,000 a month, according to this numerically-challenged version of the billionaire.

All you need to do is invest around $200 to get started --- money you'll never see again, of course.

The bogus version of the notorious billionaire illustrates five ways you can spot similar deepfake voices in your social media.

Telltale signs

These five signs can give away the fake voices. Listen for:

Robotic sounds
Does the speaker sound mechanical at times? Fake Elon sounds mostly conversational, but occasionally falls into a little Optimus Prime-style speech.
Timing
Sometimes the pauses between words and sentences are too long, awkward, or non-existent. Fake Elon rushes through a few words in an unnatural way.
Pronunciation
AI voices may put the accent on the wrong syllable or pronounce vowels the wrong way. Fake Elon, for example, pronounces "automatically" as "auto-ma-TICK-lee.”
Intonation
Does the tone match the emotion of the conversation? Does the speaker suddenly speak in an oddly-pitched voice? Fake Elon occasionally bursts out with a bizarre, high-pitched word or two.
Accent
Does it change during the recording? Does it match the real speaker? Observers say the real Elon has a mix of South African, Canadian and American accents. But the fake Elon switches from American to British in the middle of a sentence in a way that is very inauthentic.

First and Foremost

These clues can help. But people working in security and fraud say, more importantly, you should listen for the message behind the voice.

"The number one thing to listen for is that they want you to do something now. They want you to do something immediately," said Shawn Hall, vice president of global business intelligence at voice security company Pindrop.

Indeed, 'Eye-lon' tells you get just one chance at his money-making scheme.

"No one has ever tried what I'm about to show you. I'll only show it to you once. So be careful," he says. "If you leave this page, you won't have a chance to finish this video. Your link will expire and so will your chances of making money."

"That's the fraud game. I can get you to do something super-fast. I need you to do it now. Don't wait," Hall explained. "That's when they've got you."

Distractions

Fake voice attackers use other tricks in addition to pressure. They'll try to distract you with emotion so that you don't pay as much attention to the voice irregularities.

For example, you may feel fear because a caller tells you that your child or spouse has been in an accident. Or you may worry that you'll disappoint your boss if you don't carry out the "urgent" business matter they're asking of you. Or excitement over the idea of making easy money may close your ears to the odd pauses and robotic phrases.

Complaints online show that these kinds of fake Elon schemes have at least some success, luring people into entering credit card numbers or sending off cryptocurrency.

In Bad Company

This fake ad is one of many Elon clones circulating in the last few months. Criminals have made deepfakes of other well-known people to try to bolster the attack.

An AI version of a South African news anchor proclaims, "He has come up with a new secret investment that has made hundreds of people very rich.”

A faker imitating British financial journalist Martin Lewis claims that the billionaire's trading software is a great chance for people to invest. "No project has ever given such opportunities to the residents of the country."

A deepfake of a Canadian news anchor announces, "Important news. Elon Musk's project has scared the government and big banks." He goes on to say, "And of course, a few minutes after the interview ended, the government called and asked not to air the interview. But it was too late."

In this era of AI, you can't always trust a voice --- unless you verify first.