Your bank wants your voice. Just say no.
You already gave your bank your address, date of birth, Social Security number and your mother’s maiden name. Now, they want your voice.
Banks say it’s an extra layer of biometric protection against fraud and cybercrime. But with the rise of hackers stealing voice data for deepfakes, is it worth the risk?
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IT NEVER ENDS! WHAT TO DO AFTER A DATA BREACH
The identity arms race
No matter how much money you have in the bank, a hacker or scammer wants it — and they’re always one step ahead.
If you're skeptical of your bank having your voice data on record, you're not crazy — you’re smart. A voice can be cloned using AI with as little as 10 seconds of audio and a few bucks.
Call your bank’s customer service line and ask to opt out of voice authentication. It takes two minutes. If you can do it now, great. If you can’t, I highly recommend you set a reminder to do it later. This is important.
Pro tip: Scammers have been known to plant fake numbers in search results. Don’t just Google search the name of your bank and call that number. Go directly to your bank’s website or call the number on the back of your debit or credit card.
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Go a step further
Because you’re smart, you use strong unique passwords, you enable 2FA, you don’t bank on public Wi-Fi, and you always monitor your accounts. (More on all that below if you need help.)
But it might be worth a phone call or trip to your local bank branch to ask if they offer extra security features. Popular options include:
Secure keys: This physical or digital device generates one-time