Educating people about how life-like AI voices have become can help protect them against “devastating” scams, a study has claimed.
Researchers at Abertay University found short messages explaining AI’s ability to convincingly replicate regional accents and dialects can “significantly” reduce listeners’ tendency to assume voices are human.
While the warnings did not sharpen people’s skills at spotting which voices were real or not, the team said they did make them more cautious and less likely to assume AI voices were real simply because they had “underrepresented accents”.
They added that warnings which simply highlighted the risks of AI voice scams had little effect unless combined with this information about AI’s increasing capability.
The study comes as AI-generated voices have become so convincing they are being used in major scams – from cloning CEOs to approve multi-million-pound transfers to impersonating family members in fake kidnapping calls.
According to a separate study by Starling Bank, 28% of UK adults have been targeted by AI voice cloning scams yet nearly 46% are unaware these scams even exist, and just a third know the warning signs.
Victims of deep-fake scam calls lose an average of £595 per incident, with some cases exceeding £13,000, according to the annual fraud report 2025 by UK Finance.
Study lead Neil Kirk, from the university’s department of sociological and psychological sciences, said a simple shift in awareness could help prevent fraud as synthetic voices become increasingly life-like.
“Scammers often use emotional hooks – such as urgent calls from ‘relatives’ needing help or fake delivery issues – to pressure victims into quick decisions,” he said.
“When combined with AI-generated voices that sound authentic and even mimic local accents, these tactics become far harder to detect.”
He said the study’s findings presented “clear opportunities” for fraud prevention, and that “banks, telecom providers and public awareness campaigns could incorporate capability-based messages into security prompts or fraud alerts to help protect consumers”.
The study builds on research by Mr Kirk published earlier this year, which demonstrated just how convincing AI-generated voices can be, especially when mimicking regional dialects such as Dundonian Scots.
That research found that listeners often assumed the AI voices were real, especially in local dialects.
Mr Kirk said: “AI voice technology is advancing faster than public awareness.
“If we don’t update people’s expectations now, we risk leaving entire communities vulnerable to scams.
“Fraudsters are already exploiting these gaps and the consequences can be devastating.
“Education is the most powerful tool we have to close that gap and it is something we can implement quickly and at scale.”
He added: “Informing rather than alarming may be the most scalable way to increase vigilance.
“But this cannot be left to industry alone – governments and policymakers need to work together with businesses to launch co-ordinated education campaigns that close the awareness gap and keep people safe.”
The study was based on two experiments involving 300 Scottish participants.
It is published in the Journal of Cybersecurity, and was funded by the Scottish Institute for Policing Research.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “While artificial intelligence opens new possibilities for learning and teaching, it is crucial that children and young people are equipped with the knowledge required to navigate a future with AI, and that teachers are supported to engage with AI in the classroom.
“The Scottish Government will consider this report and we will continue to work with Qualifications Scotland, Education Scotland, the Scottish AI Alliance, the teaching profession and experts in higher education to ensure that AI can be used effectively and safely.”
