{"slug": "why-i-never-say-hello-first-when-i-answer-the-phone-rachel-rickard-straus-on-a", "title": "Why I never say 'hello' first when I answer the phone: RACHEL RICKARD STRAUS on a terrifying new AI scam", "summary": "Columnist Rachel Rickard Straus warns about AI-powered voice cloning scams and advises never saying 'hello' first when answering unknown calls. She cites a Financial Conduct Authority report predicting AI will amplify fraud by 2030, with £1.3 billion stolen last year in the UK alone.", "body_md": "# Why I never say 'hello' first when I answer the phone: RACHEL RICKARD STRAUS on a terrifying new AI scam\n\n**See more This is Money on Google -**[save us as a Preferred Source](https://google.com/preferences/source?q=thisismoney.co.uk)\n\nWhen I'm called from a number I don't recognise, I answer the phone and stay silent until the caller identifies themselves.\n\nIt feels horribly discourteous and is not the ideal response when, for example, my doctor's surgery phones.\n\nBut it might be worth it if it helps protect me from the new wave of sophisticated AI scam techniques doing the rounds.\n\nOne of these is voice cloning, where scammers take just a brief audio clipping and use AI to create a digital replica of your voice that sounds exactly like you – and that can be used to say anything the scammer chooses.\n\nThey can then trick your loved ones into sending them money by using your voice to ask for it – inventing an excuse or suggesting that you are in some distress, for example.\n\nI hope that by not sharing my voice, it will be slightly harder for scammers to gain access to it and exploit it.\n\nScammers can take just a brief audio clipping and use AI to create a digital replica of your voice\n\nAs soon as I identify the caller I quickly apologise for my rudeness and compensate with an overabundance of cheeriness – which I'm sure just makes my phone manner seem even more strange.\n\nIt's not great, but I fear we're all going to have to adapt our ways to fight the onslaught of AI fraud coming our way.\n\nA city watchdog report into the future of AI in financial services this week warned in no uncertain terms that it's coming.\n\n'AI will amplify fraud and cyber risks by 2030,' says the Financial Conduct Authority report. 'They will become faster, cheaper, more scalable and more persuasive.'\n\nFraud has always been a scourge, and in recent years its impact has been devastating.\n\nMore than four million cases in which money was lost were reported last year, according to the latest figures from industry body UK Finance.\n\nAs much as £1.3billion was stolen by scammers last year.\n\nBut as we move into this new age, where scammers are armed with AI, the risks could be far greater. They have this new weapon, so we'll also need new strategies to fight back.\n\nFirstly, we can no longer try to outfox scammers – they are increasingly too clever for that and we won't win.\n\nFor example, just a couple of years ago, I applauded a reader who got in touch to say that when he is called by scammers he keeps them on the phone and strings them along.\n\nHis reasoning was that as long as they were speaking to him, they wouldn't be trying their luck with other potential victims.\n\nBut now I'd advise the reader to hang up as quickly as possible. His efforts would now be futile as scammers can use AI to make countless calls at the same time. And I'd worry they could clone his voice and use it against him.\n\nOne strategy to beat the dangers of cloning and impersonation is setting up a code word with loved ones that only you know so you can prove you are speaking to the right person if you need to.\n\nSecondly, we need to stop assuming that we can spot when a website, social media post, email, phone call or text is generated by a scammer.\n\nUntil recently, there may have been telltale signs. For example the grammar would be poor, correspondence purporting to be from your bank would look nothing like the genuine article, and web pages would be littered with errors.\n\nBut increasingly, with help from AI, scammers can copy to perfection.\n\nMore than four million cases in which money was lost were reported last year, with as much as £1.3billion stolen by scammers\n\nFor example, there's a scam doing the rounds at the moment that appears to show a BBC news article about Reform UK leader Nigel Farage getting into a spat with the Bank of England chief Andrew Bailey.\n\nIn it, Farage seems to claim that he knows about a great investment that could make people rich, and that the Bank is denying them access to it. Nothing about the news article is true and Farage has nothing to do with it, but it looks remarkably realistic. With AI these dupes will become ever more authentic-looking.\n\nThirdly, we need to be alert to the rise of personalisation.\n\nUntil recently, scammers would have to blitz thousands of potential victims with the same bogus message.\n\nFor example, they would send out a text message claiming to be from a particular phone operator. Any recipient who was not a customer of that operator would think the message suspicious or simply ignore it. But for those who were, the message may have rung true and they may have been ensnared.\n\nWith AI, scammers can personalise messages so they seem even more persuasive – and that means that everyone is at risk of falling for them.\n\nAs the FCA report puts it: 'AI is making fraud and scams quicker to spread and more persuasive, especially impersonation, synthetic identity abuse and automated social-engineering attacks.'\n\nSo we'll have to be even more on our guard. Take a minute before you respond to any correspondence from your bank or other providers. If you have any doubts, contact the company directly rather than responding to the message that you receive.\n\nAnd, in this world of AI, remember that humans are often the most useful weapon. Sense-check messages with loved ones if you're not sure.\n\nrachel.rickard@dailymail.co.uk", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/why-i-never-say-hello-first-when-i-answer-the-phone-rachel-rickard-straus-on-a", "canonical_source": "https://www.dailymail.com/money/beatthescammers/article-15959985/Why-never-say-hello-answer-phone-RACHEL-RICKARD-STRAUS-terrifying-new-AI-scam.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490", "published_at": "2026-07-08 07:39:50+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-07-08 08:04:25.777584+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-safety", "ai-ethics", "ai-policy"], "entities": ["Rachel Rickard Straus", "Financial Conduct Authority", "UK Finance", "Nigel Farage", "Bank of England", "Andrew Bailey", "BBC"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/why-i-never-say-hello-first-when-i-answer-the-phone-rachel-rickard-straus-on-a", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/why-i-never-say-hello-first-when-i-answer-the-phone-rachel-rickard-straus-on-a.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/why-i-never-say-hello-first-when-i-answer-the-phone-rachel-rickard-straus-on-a.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/why-i-never-say-hello-first-when-i-answer-the-phone-rachel-rickard-straus-on-a.jsonld"}}