WASHINGTON–A group of Senate Democrats is urging the CFPB to take action to protect consumers from scams and fraud caused by artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning in consumer financial products, including voice cloning, which has already been used to fool financial institutions’ biometric security procedures.
In a letter to the Bureau from Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Jack Reed (D-RI), and Tina Smith (D-MN), CFPB Director Rohit Chopra was urged to take action.
“Voice cloning adds a new, threatening dimension to these scams, allowing fraudsters to generate voice clips to convincingly impersonate friends, family, or potentially even financial advisors and bank employees,” the letter states. “Hearing trusted voices amplifies the risks of consumers falling victim to scams. The risks posed by voice cloning in the realm of financial scams demand immediate attention and action. To effectively address this emerging threat, we respectfully request that the CFPB review the risks posed by this new technology as soon as practicable and take action under the CFPB’s existing authorities to protect consumers.”
Concerns Raised Earlier
In May, Brown, who chairs the Senate, Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, raised similar concerns about voice authentication technology to the CEOs of six major banks and asked the banks to provide the committee with details as to how they will protect consumers from scams generated by AI.
A copy of the letter to the CFPB appears here.