Washington, DC – Consumer Reports delivered a petition today signed by more than 75,000 consumers urging the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to hold companies accountable that operate AI voice cloning products that enable scams and impersonation, and to protect all Americans from these kinds of deepfakes.
“AI voice cloning tools are making it easier than ever for scammers to impersonate someone’s voice,” said Grace Gedye policy analyst for AI issues at Consumer Reports. “These AI-enabled scams are increasingly difficult to detect, are costing consumers real money, and can present a threat to our national security as we recently saw when someone impersonated Secretary of State Marco Rubio. We urgently need proper oversight and guardrails for this technology. We are calling on the FTC, as well as national and state policymakers, to investigate AI voice cloning companies with insufficient guardrails and address the dangers this emerging technology presents to consumers.”
Americans lost nearly $3 billion in ‘imposter scams’ in 2024 alone. CR is calling on the FTC to:
- Use Section 5 powers to investigate companies that facilitate voice-cloning scams and hold them accountable.
- Recommence work on the Individual Impersonation rulemaking (SNPRM, R207000).
CR is also asking state Attorneys General to use their laws and enforcement tools to investigate these voice cloning apps, and to hold companies accountable if they are not doing enough to protect consumers.
A recent FTC analysis found that since 2020, there has been more than four-fold increase in reports from older consumers who say they have lost $10,000 or more – sometimes their entire life savings – to scammers impersonating trusted government agencies or businesses.
Consumer Reports recently released a study on how AI voice cloning tools can facilitate fraud and impersonation. CR assessed six products available for free or low cost online, and found that a majority of the products assessed did not have meaningful safeguards to stop fraud or misuse of their product.
Contact: cyrus.rassool@consumer.org