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Incident 872: AI Voice Cloning of Ari Melber Allegedly Exploited in Scam Targeting Elderly Woman

Description: A scammer allegedly impersonated MSNBC anchor Ari Melber using AI-generated voice messages and a fake social media profile to defraud a 73-year-old woman, Patricia Taylor. Over four months, the scammer reportedly manipulated her into believing they were in a relationship, ultimately convincing her to send $20,000.
Editor Notes: Reconstructing the timeline of events: (1) Around May 2024: Patricia Taylor reportedly makes contact with a fake Facebook profile impersonating MSNBC anchor Ari Melber. (2) Approximately between May–September 2024: The scammer reportedly used emotional manipulation and AI-generated voice messages to establish trust and extract $20,000 in funds and gift cards. (3) Early September 2024: Patricia attempts to meet the imposter in New York but is intercepted by a relative during a layover in Portland. (4) Mid-December 2024: The incident is reported publicly.

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Entities

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Alleged: Unknown voice synthesis technology developers and Unknown deepfake technology developers developed an AI system deployed by scammers, which harmed Patricia Taylor , Family of Patricia Taylor and Ari Melber.
Alleged implicated AI system: Unknown voice cloning technology

Incident Stats

Incident ID
872
Report Count
5
Incident Date
2024-12-16
Editors
Daniel Atherton
Applied Taxonomies
MIT

MIT Taxonomy Classifications

Machine-Classified
Taxonomy Details

Risk Subdomain

A further 23 subdomains create an accessible and understandable classification of hazards and harms associated with AI
 

4.3. Fraud, scams, and targeted manipulation

Risk Domain

The Domain Taxonomy of AI Risks classifies risks into seven AI risk domains: (1) Discrimination & toxicity, (2) Privacy & security, (3) Misinformation, (4) Malicious actors & misuse, (5) Human-computer interaction, (6) Socioeconomic & environmental harms, and (7) AI system safety, failures & limitations.
 
  1. Malicious Actors & Misuse

Entity

Which, if any, entity is presented as the main cause of the risk
 

Human

Timing

The stage in the AI lifecycle at which the risk is presented as occurring
 

Post-deployment

Intent

Whether the risk is presented as occurring as an expected or unexpected outcome from pursuing a goal
 

Intentional

Incident Reports

Reports Timeline

73-year-old woman scammed out of thousands of dollars by person posing as MSNBC host+4
Grandmother scammed out of $20K by fake TV anchor using AI voice
73-year-old woman scammed out of thousands of dollars by person posing as MSNBC host

73-year-old woman scammed out of thousands of dollars by person posing as MSNBC host

kxii.com

Grandmother scammed out of $20K by fake TV anchor using AI voice

Grandmother scammed out of $20K by fake TV anchor using AI voice

whio.com

A Scammer Used AI to Convince Elderly MSNBC Fan He Was Famous TV Host. He Nearly Kidnapped Her.

A Scammer Used AI to Convince Elderly MSNBC Fan He Was Famous TV Host. He Nearly Kidnapped Her.

latintimes.com

Scammer poses as MSNBC's Ari Melber, cons former Boeing employee out of $20,000 (so far)

Scammer poses as MSNBC's Ari Melber, cons former Boeing employee out of $20,000 (so far)

boingboing.net

Scammer Posing as MSNBC’s Ari Melber Bilks Elderly Woman Out of More Than $20K, Police Say

Scammer Posing as MSNBC’s Ari Melber Bilks Elderly Woman Out of More Than $20K, Police Say

mediaite.com

73-year-old woman scammed out of thousands of dollars by person posing as MSNBC host
kxii.com · 2024

MARYSVILLE, Calif. (KING) – Police in California are investigating after an elderly woman was scammed by a person she believed was a popular cable TV host.

The Taylor family said they are sickened by the scam their mother was dragged into t…

Grandmother scammed out of $20K by fake TV anchor using AI voice
whio.com · 2024

MARYSVILLE, Wash. — A grandmother is the victim of a scam involving a popular cable TV host.

Her family says a man posing as an MSNBC anchor has swindled the unsuspecting senior out of tens of thousands of dollars.

“We want to vomit,” said …

A Scammer Used AI to Convince Elderly MSNBC Fan He Was Famous TV Host. He Nearly Kidnapped Her.
latintimes.com · 2024

A 73-year-old California woman was scammed into believing she was in communication with a famous MSNBC host, with the scammer leading her to be convinced she was in a romantic relationship with him only to nearly fall victim to a kidnapping…

Scammer poses as MSNBC's Ari Melber, cons former Boeing employee out of $20,000 (so far)
boingboing.net · 2024

A scammer posing as MSNBC host Ari Melber has reportedly swindled a former Boeing and University of Washington employee out of $20,000. And her family fears the con ain't over yet.

73-year-old Patricia Taylor, a "huge fan of Ari Melber's," …

Scammer Posing as MSNBC’s Ari Melber Bilks Elderly Woman Out of More Than $20K, Police Say
mediaite.com · 2024

Police in Washington state are investigating reports that a scammer posing as popular MSNBC host Ari Melber bilked at least $20,000 out of a 73-year-old woman and even convinced her to meet up.

The family of former Boeing employee Patricia …

Variants

A "variant" is an incident that shares the same causative factors, produces similar harms, and involves the same intelligent systems as a known AI incident. Rather than index variants as entirely separate incidents, we list variations of incidents under the first similar incident submitted to the database. Unlike other submission types to the incident database, variants are not required to have reporting in evidence external to the Incident Database. Learn more from the research paper.

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