New scam alert! Lucknow man duped of ₹44,500 in first-ever AI-generated voice fraud case in the city

A 25-year-old man from Lucknow's Gomti Nagar area was duped of ₹44,500 in the city's first-ever AI-generated voice fraud case. In this shocking case, the fraudster created the voice of the victim's uncle using artificial intelligence and told a false distress story to get the money transferred.

According to the victim, Kartikeya, the AI-generated voice was so similar to his relative that he didn't even have the slightest suspicion. The fraudster then asked the victim to transfer ₹90,000 to a UPI number, after narrating a made-up distress story.

Fortunately, for the victim, several transactions failed, and the transfer of only ₹44,500 could have been possible. The FIR has been registered and the investigation is underway to nab the culprit. This sort of AI voice fraud has been witnessed across the country before but is the first of its kind reported in Lucknow.

It is noteworthy that a total of 57 cyber stations will soon come up across 75 districts in Uttar Pradesh. With the pace at which such cases are coming up in new forms in the state, the move to establish dedicated cyber police stations couldn't have been more timely.

Over the past year, there has been a significant surge in the number and frequency of cybercrimes in the state. Given this, the administration has asked people to exercise as much caution as possible whenever dealing with suspicious phone calls, messages, or emails.