The Thai premier says she almost fell victim to scammers who called her late at night, pretending to be the leader of a neighbouring country and asking for a donation.
Paetongtarn Shinawatra declined to reveal the name of the country in question, explaining that the scammers first sent a voice clip to her mobile phone.
“The scammers used AI to imitate the leader’s voice. In the clip, the apparent dignitary asked how I was and mentioned that they wanted to work together, she said.
She replied to the message via text. They responded by saying they would contact her again later.
“They then called me at around 11pm but, luckily, I had already gone to bed. When I saw the missed call in the morning, I was quite shocked. I texted back, apologising for missing the call and asking what time I should call back,” she told reporters.
After that, the scammers sent another voice clip, asking for a donation and claiming that Thailand was the only ASEAN country that had not yet contributed.
She became certain that it was a scam when the bank account they provided was in a third country.
According to Paetongtarn, the scammers appeared to have obtained her contact information from other individuals who had her number in their contact lists.
