AI-powered ‘bishop bots’ con nuns out of thousands in bizarre new scam

Police in Spain have warned ‘brides of Christ’ to be on high alert after more than 15 convents were targeted (Picture: Shutterstock/ViChizh)

Police in Spain have put the country’s nuns on high alert after a string of AI-based scams targeted several convents. 

According to reports, at least 15 nunneries in the southern Spanish province of Jaen have been targeted in the last few weeks. 

The scheme involved the use of artificial intelligence to alter the suspect’s voices and faces so that they appear to be high-ranking religious leaders asking for money. 

One alleged conman is understood to have posed as Sebastian Chico, the Bishop of Jaen, while telephoning several nuns to ask them to transfer 5,000 euros (roughly £4,260) for surgery. 

They were reportedly successful in scamming around half of that amount from a convent in Torredonjimeno. 

The bishops office in the coastal town of Almeria is reported to have said the fraudsters were using the advanced and controversial technology ‘to achieve almost perfect imitations of voices and, in the case of videos, even the face and gestures of the impersonated person. 

One nun is understood to have gotten wise to the scam when a fraudster called to introduce himself as the Bishop of Jaen. 

She said she told the conman caller: ‘You’re not Don Sebastian, your voice is very hoarse.’

The advent of AI technology allowing users to replicate the voices of others has opened the way for a new generation of fraudsters and scam artists to exploit unwitting victims (Picture: Shutterstock/ArtemisDiana)

She went on to explain that the person at the other end of the line replied and said: ‘Yes, I am, I need the money for an operation on my throat.’

Pro-vicar of the Diocese of Jaen said the fraudsters were looking ‘to take advantage of the goodwill of these nuns who know that they are very receptive to the bishop, who is their shepherd father.’

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These developments in Spain merely add to a growing list of concerns over how criminals may be looking to exploit artificial intelligence in future.

Most recently, Facebook users were targeted with scam ads that appeared to show Taylor Swift hawking Le Creuset kitchenware.

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