Alexa, Siri, and Google Home Can Be Tricked Into Sending Callers To Scam Phone Numbers (bbb.org) 14
"Don't ask your smart device to look up a phone number, because it may accidentally point you to a scam," warn the consumer watchdogs at the Better Business Bureau:
You need the phone number for a company, so you ask your home's smart device -- such as Google Home, Siri, or Alexa -- to find and dial it for you. But when the company's "representative" answers, the conversation takes a strange turn. This representative has some odd advice! They may insist on your paying by wire transfer or prepaid debit card. In other cases, they may demand remote access to your computer or point you to an unfamiliar website.
Turns out, that this "representative" isn't from the company at all. Scammers create fake customer service numbers and bump them to the top of search results, often by paying for ads. When Siri, Alexa, or another device does a voice search, the algorithm may accidentally pick a scam number.
One recent victim told BBB.org/ScamTracker that she used voice search to find and call customer service for a major airline. She wanted to change her seat on an upcoming flight, but the scammer tried to trick her into paying $400 in pre-paid gift cards by insisting the airline was running a special promotion. In another report, a consumer used Siri to call what he thought was the support number for his printer. Instead, he found himself in a tech support scam.
People put their faith in voice assistants, even when they're just parroting the results from search engines, the BBB warns. The end result?
"Using voice search to find a number can make it harder to tell a phony listing from the real one."
Turns out, that this "representative" isn't from the company at all. Scammers create fake customer service numbers and bump them to the top of search results, often by paying for ads. When Siri, Alexa, or another device does a voice search, the algorithm may accidentally pick a scam number.
One recent victim told BBB.org/ScamTracker that she used voice search to find and call customer service for a major airline. She wanted to change her seat on an upcoming flight, but the scammer tried to trick her into paying $400 in pre-paid gift cards by insisting the airline was running a special promotion. In another report, a consumer used Siri to call what he thought was the support number for his printer. Instead, he found himself in a tech support scam.
People put their faith in voice assistants, even when they're just parroting the results from search engines, the BBB warns. The end result?
"Using voice search to find a number can make it harder to tell a phony listing from the real one."
How come nobody ever mentions Cortana? (Score:2)
It's probably the most prevalent voice system in the world, and giving Microsoft's track record is probably ripe for the pickings.
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I suspect that is a common reaction.
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Yeah, but unlike the others, nobody uses it. At least for anything but novelty value.
Nothing to see here (Score:2)
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They needn't fool Google. They only have to pay them.
And the search engine companies are %100 to blame (Score:1)
They decided to say "fuck the user, I'll take the big bag of money from anybody, bump their result to the top, and turn my back and plug my ears while going "LALALALLA!!HearnoevilseenoevilsaynoevilLALALALA!!!"
Tell me again, why are we supposed to trust all of our data to The Cloud(R)(TM)(Pat. Pending) these same hucksters are peddling?
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Which in turn points to the culprits. So who knows those system so well and how best to scam them, insiders of course and the only ones who can do it on any scale and if investigators focus on employees of these companies, they will probably uncover them pretty quick plus a whole range of other scams. This big tech firms are in desperate need of a privacy data audit and mass prosecutions, otherwise leaky corporate invasions of privacy will cripple society with digital crimes. The collectors of the data are
Working as Designed ... (Score:1)
What is the problem? These devices are working as they were designed to work. Neither Apple, Amazon, nor Google held out in any way that these devices would provide accurate results. In fact, the various sellers are quite clear that these are "entertainment devices" and should not be relied on in way.
Talking with a live mic was going to be good? (Score:1)
With a CoC and big brand censorship?
Now expect other unexpected events to follow that ad networks back to the wide open users networks?
1. Dont have an open mic product/service.
2. Dont trust big ad brands.
3. Recall US brands support for the US gov/mil with PRISM.
4. The ads get support as they are paying for a service to network with the user.
5. The ads are the customer. They get full big brand support to always connect to the user.
6. The end user is the product.
automating your mistake (Score:2)
to be fair, your smart device uses a search and picks the first results, probably the same thing the owners would do if they had to manually type in the search querry in google. just to dail the wrong number anyway, because it's the first number that shows up.