American venture capitalist Tim Draper has issued a warning on social media that scammers are trying to trick crypto users with an artificial intelligence (AI) voice generator.
In an Oct. 19 post on X (formerly Twitter), Draper warned his roughly 254,000 followers to be on the lookout for “thieves” using AI to create an approximation of their voice. According to the venture capitalist, “AI is getting smarter” as evidenced by followers apparently reporting that Draper tried to get them to send cryptocurrency.
Apparently AI is getting smarter, and people are using my voice to try to get you to send money (crypto). Please know that I will never ask for money from the public X-members. If anyone is asking, it’s not me. They are thieves.
– Tim Draper (@TimDraper) October 19, 2023
Related: Here’s how to quickly spot a deep fake crypto scam — cyber security executives
Recent advances in AI have made it easier for the average person to hear the voice of their favorite celebrity or watch a video of politicians saying whatever they want through some apps. After the collapse of FTX in November 2022, scammers created an in-depth fake video of former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried offering compensation to affected users. A similar situation occurred with a deep fake of Tesla CEO Elon Musk in May 2022.
Draper, who once predicted that the price of Bitcoin (BTC) would hit $250,000 by 2023, was an early investor in the cryptocurrency. Despite losing around 40,000 BTC when Mt. Gox collapsed in 2011, he continued to be an advocate for space and digital assets.
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