Canadian Telecom Summit: AI taking phone fraud to new heights

At the 22nd Canadian Telecom Summit, Seattle-based Hiya unpacked the state of phone fraud in Canada, and how the rise of generative AI is exacerbating the issue.

The company’s senior director of business development, Tony Janusky, kicked off the discussion highlighting the 2021 findings from the Canadian Anti Fraud Center, which indicate that voice-related phone scams accounted for 30 per cent of the 106,000 fraud reports received that year. Only 15 per cent stemmed from emails, and another 10 per cent from social media.

And, as a result, scammers are using an arsenal of tools to capitalize on the use of voice calls, which, Janusky said, continue to be the preferred medium of interaction for Canadians...