Even world leaders receive scam calls. Just ask Thailand’s prime minister

Thailand's Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra talks to a reporter during a news conference at the government house in Bangkok, Thailand, on January 13, 2025.The Government Spokesman Office/AP

CNN - Bangkok, Thailand

We are all vulnerable to the rapid spread of phone scams – including, it seems, world leaders. Thailand’s prime minister has revealed she got a call from an AI system, demanding money in the voice of another famous head of government.

Paetongtarn Shinawatra did not reveal who the computer was mimicking, but said she received a message in a voice identical to a well-known leader.

“The voice was very clear, and I recognized it immediately. They first sent a voice clip, saying something like, ‘How are you? I want to work together,’ and so on,” Paetongtarn said.

She said she later missed a call from the same number, then received a voice message which cut to the chase: “They sent another voice message asking for a donation, saying, ‘You are the only country in (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) that hasn’t donated yet,’ emphasizing it. I was taken aback for a moment and realized something was off.”

She said whoever sent the message “probably used AI to take the voice” of the unnamed world leader.

Scams or scam centers are not uncommon in Southeast Asia. In recent years, investigators say transnational crime organizations have exploited technological advances and the civil war in Myanmar to build a billion-dollar industry scamming people across the world.