Criminals are starting to turn artificial intelligence into a double-edged sword. They started using it to extort migrant families.
How do they do that? They send photo and video montages of fake kidnappings to ask for money from desperate relatives, warns Telemundo 44 Washington.
Criminals send photos of their alleged victims, sitting or kneeling, with knives near their necks. In their hands they place a sign with the macabre message: “They’re going to kill me, help me.”
These victims, the news network points out, “are mostly families whose relatives disappeared into the desert, those who attempted to cross the border into the United States and never reached their destination.”
The family does everything it can to prevent harm to that person and pays what the criminals demand, said Oscar Andrade, director of the Capellanes del Desierto Humanitarian Group.
Criminals disguise themselves as immigration lawyers and judges to defraud immigrants in the United States
Using AI to extort immigrants
Sending fake photos has been around for a while, but “what they’re doing now is sending videos where the person’s face is moving, but those videos have no sound, they have no voice.”
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How do they go about extorting?
According to the rescue group Capellanes del Desierto, in the past month they have received “nine reports of extortions at the Arizona border.”
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They analyze that “the coyotes ask the migrants for information such as name, nationality and contacts of their families, and then all they need is a photo to start the extortion.”
“We’re going to kill him, we’re going to rip his head off.” With threatening audio they sow more fear in families.
One scammed person, Yozabeth, told Telemundo, “that he paid $4,000 after his brother Jezvin disappeared in the border area of Sasabe. Unfortunately, he received fake photos.”
“They called us and They claimed they had my brotherhe remembered.
Some tips to avoid scams when processing immigration documents in the United States
Computer security experts recommend reviewing the content very carefully and contacting authorities. Remember that with a computer and even a mobile phone, using certain applications, you can create those types of videos in which you see movement, but there is no voice.
The criminals They take advantage of the desperation for the family member who is believed to be in danger. Andrade acknowledges: “People are falling because of terror.”
(JO)
Source: Eluniverso
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