Democratic members of the Senate Banking Committee, led by committee Chair Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), sent a letter to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Rohit Chopra, urging the consumer finance industry watchdog to take action to protect consumers from scams and fraud caused by artificial intelligence (AI).
The lawmakers raised specific concerns over AI voice cloning technology which can allow scammers to fraudulently access consumers’ finances including their bank accounts.
“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. Hearing trusted voices amplifies the risks of consumers falling victim to scams,” the senators wrote.
The senators also expressed concerns about how financial institutions themselves may be vulnerable to AI-powered attacks and breaches. In May, Brown sent letters to six of the largest banks that offer voice authentication services, outlining concerns that AI-generated voice clips allow fraudulent actors to break into customers’ accounts.
According to the letter sent to Chopra, the responses received from those banks made it clear to Brown that financial institutions do not have a “uniform and robust” approach to detecting and preventing AI-driven threats.
“The risks posed by voice cloning in the realm of financial scams demand immediate attention and action,” he said. “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.”