Voice-cloning software capable of generating speech in Dutch has been in the news regularly lately. With this type of software, it has become very easy for scammers to impersonate someone else over the phone. Many medium-sized companies, foundations and/or associations are increasingly at risk as a result.
Dangers
Recently, the NRC published an interesting article by Stijn Bronzwaer on voice-cloning titled, “‘Mom! Help! Can you transfer money quickly?'”. As part of that, the writer was also a guest on NRC’s podcast discussing the topic of telephone scams. Because, although the title of this article refers primarily to scams in a personal setting, there is also danger in applying such sophisticated techniques in a professional context.
Imagine a situation in which a director calls the finance department to ask for an urgent transfer of funds. For many companies, this situation is recognizable. With voice-cloning software, the danger lurks that although the director’s voice is clearly recognized, the call is not from the director at all but from a scammer.
“The solution is very simple. Make clear agreements about when money can be transferred.”
The larger an organization, the less likely this type of scam is possible due to all sorts of internal controls. But many medium-sized companies, foundations and/or associations run an increasing risk of becoming victims of this if they do not guard against it in time.
Authorize
The solution is very simple. Make clear agreements about when money can be transferred. A good agreement is that money can only be transferred if there is an open item in the accounts payable ledger to which a purchase invoice is linked that has been demonstrably authorized by the right person.
The authorization of invoices is a feature that is missing in many accounting packages, has a limited presence or involves high costs. TriFact365 offers an affordable solution for this, which is easy to link with a large number of accounting packages and is easy to set up.
Next step
Is your organization already using TriFact365? Please contact your Administrator to enable the authorization feature.
Is your organization not yet using TriFact365? Request a free version and we will help you get started for free!