They clone the voice of the Archbishop of Mérida and raise hundreds of euros in donations.

How many times have we heard that not everything on the Internet is true, and despite this warning, hoaxes, scams, and frauds continue to occur every day . The truth is, you shouldn't feel like an idiot for falling for a scam, as frauds today are so realistic that even the most well-prepared people can fall for them.

One of the main culprits of this perfectionism that exists in scams is the arrival of Artificial Intelligence , which has given cybercriminals a key tool to make their schemes as realistic as possible, making them practically impossible to detect.

A clear example of this is what happened in the capital of Extremadura, Mérida, where the Archdiocese of Mérida-Badajoz was forced to send a warning to the public after detecting that Archbishop José Rodríguez Carballo's identity had been stolen.

Apparently, cybercriminals have managed to clone his voice using AI and have started calling citizens to ask for donations for the Church. As a result, hundreds of people have been scammed and have given money to these cybercriminals thinking it was for religious or social campaigns.

"The Archdiocese of Mérida-Badajoz wishes to clarify that at no time does the Archbishop, nor any member of the Diocesan Curia, make requests for financial assistance by telephone, digital, or telematic means. Any request for assistance of this nature will always be communicated personally and directly, and never by phone," they explain in the statement.

"These types of calls constitute a scam or fraud, in which criminals seek to take advantage of people's goodwill by impersonating the Archbishop or his associates to obtain financial or material benefits."

Therefore, the public is urged to be alert and wary of these types of communications. The key is to ignore these calls, never share personal or banking information, and report any fraud of this kind to the authorities .