Silent calls are increasingly being seen as more than a simple technical glitch. Regulators and consumer protection bodies warn that they can be used in abusive calling practices, including automated campaigns aimed at verifying whether a phone number is active, identifying potential targets and, in some cases, gathering short voice samples that could later be exploited in AI-enabled fraud.
Once a person answers, that number can become more vulnerable to future scam attempts, including phishing messages, robocalls and other forms of social engineering fraud.
Actu Maroc reports that these silent calls are emerging as a new tactic used by cybercriminals, with the apparent goal of identifying active phone numbers and, in some cases, collecting short voice samples that could later be exploited in more elaborate scams.
The outlet says these calls often begin with an unknown but ordinary-looking number, followed by silence and a sudden disconnection, creating the impression of a harmless glitch when the objective may be verification and future targeting.
That concern fits into a broader pattern already documented in Morocco. In April 2026, the DGSSI warned of an active phishing campaign using fraudulent SMS messages posing as official notifications about traffic fines in order to steal personal and banking data. That alert shows that mobile-based impersonation and social engineering fraud are already established threats in the country.
The article also emphasized that the real threat does not lie in the silent calls themselves, but in the possibility that even a brief response, such as a simple “yes” or “hello,” could be captured and later used in AI voice cloning for scams and other illegal activities online.
Internationally, U.S. regulators are treating the issue as a serious and growing threat. The Federal Trade Commission has warned that scammers are using AI-generated voices to mimic relatives, colleagues and other trusted figures to steal money or sensitive information.
The Federal Communications Commission has also declared AI-generated voices in robocalls illegal under existing U.S. telemarketing law, underscoring the scale of concern surrounding this method of fraud.
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