iPhone and Android owners told to ask for the ‘secret ingredient’ on phone call – don’t risk your bank being emptied

ASKING a simple question about a so-called secret ingredient could save you from a devastating and costly phone scam.

Cyber-experts have told The U.S. Sun about a simple but effective scam-busting change to your phone call habits.

Getty

Don’t let cybercriminals take advantage of you using AI[/caption]

It’s a bid to combat a sinister con that uses artificial intelligence to part you from your money.

Experts say criminals are using AI to clone the voice of a victim’s family members, friends, or colleagues – and then using it for fraudulent requests to score easy cash.

A voice can now be cloned using AI in just a few seconds, making the scam increasingly easy to execute.

James McQuiggan, security awareness advocate at KnowBe4, told us that if you’re worried that you’re talking to an AI voice clone, there’s a simple trick to employ.

“Remain calm and ask questions that only the person would know or ask questions that the scammers would not know,” James said, speaking to The U.S. Sun.

“Maybe odd ones like: ‘The dinner you cooked last night was fantastic. What was that secret ingredient?’

“This is based on the fact that they didn’t cook dinner, but the scammer will not know that.

“And will either come up with a bogus response or there will be a long pause as they try to generate a response.”

Using a simple conversational trick like this is an easy way to expose scammers.

And of course you could invent your own question – just make sure the answer is something a scammer could never answer convincingly.

It’s worth thinking up your own variant to this trick so make sure you’re as safe as possible from scammers.

This is a great trick if you’re concerned by an urgent request for money – but there’s some other preparation you can do.

“Another option is to have a passcode or passphrase that must be provided when in doubt,” James told us.

Consider speaking to close friends and family members to set up a codeword.

They didn’t cook dinner, but the scammer will not know that

James McQuigganKnowBe4 security awareness advocate

That way you can use it when you’re worried about a strange request on a phone call.

And if all else fails, ask direct questions about shared memories that couldn’t be answered based on info on the internet.

Also consider contacting that person via another method – or checking with them in real life.

It’s a major red flag if they’re asking for huge sums of money, especially using a strange method like gift cards, cryptocurrency, or to a new bank account.