Police, NTT East Use AI to Detect Telephone Fraud

The Yomiuri Shimbun

1:00 JST, August 14, 2023

The Saitama prefectural police and NTT East Corp. recently tested an AI system for detecting telephone fraud in Iruma, Saitama Prefecture.

They aim to develop a system to mitigate fraud by alerting targets’ family members and neighbors when suspicious calls are detected.

In a demonstration of the system on July 27, a 74-year-old man received a call from someone claiming to be his son. “I’ve had an accident and I need ¥5 million for medical expenses,” the caller said.

An AI-equipped device connected to the man’s landline flagged the call as fraudulent based on the caller’s words. The system automatically dialed the registered contact numbers of family members, neighbors and banks, warning that a fraudulent call had been detected.

The trial was conducted July 25-28, with devices installed on the landlines of eight households in the city.

During the trial, a participant received a call from a concerned family member within two minutes of a simulated fraudulent call. No real fraudulent calls were received in the trial period.

The prefectural police and NTT East are working on improvements to the system based on the results of the trial.

The prefectural police have confirmed 725 cases of fraud so far this year through July 31, or 25 more than in the same period last year.

“We’d like to develop preventive measures in cooperation with the public and private sectors,” a police official said.