Silence for 3 Seconds When Answering Unknown Calls? China Warns:

Do you usually say "Hello?" first when you answer an unknown call? This seemingly ordinary daily habit might now be a breeding ground for scams. Chinese authorities recently warned that criminals often intentionally remain silent on unknown calls, enticing people to speak, thereby capturing voice samples for AI voice cloning. A reminder to "silence for three seconds when receiving an unknown call" has recently gone viral on Chinese social media. The reminder points out that after connecting to a victim's phone, criminals may intentionally stay silent to prompt the victim to respond with "Hello" or "Who is it?" These brief voice samples, lasting just a few seconds, can be used by criminals for AI voice cloning, enabling them to impersonate others and commit fraudulent or illegal activities. Therefore, China's Ministry of State Security issued a warning advising people to remain silent for three seconds when answering calls and to hang up promptly if the other party also remains silent. The article points out that from voiceprints to faces, irises, and gaits, AI technology is turning the most immutable biological features into data that can be collected, replicated, and processed. Personal information security is no longer facing simple leakage risks but rather new and profound threats. Deepfakes are also giving rise to new types of crime. The article states that in the AI era, a photo and a few seconds of voice can be used to create a lifelike "digital clone." From borrowing money through "acquaintance" videos to spreading rumors online, deepfakes are no longer just technical demonstrations but are increasingly becoming new tools exploited by criminals. Furthermore, some research suggests that AI can infer certain body types and physiological characteristics from facial images, and when combined with gait analysis,