Houston senior citizen takes on bank after AI voice-clone con cost him $20,000

A.I. Voice Theft

Stealing money using A.I. We've told you about different ways criminals can do it. And the majority of the time, those criminals are impossible to try to track down, leaving victims with no remedy.

HOUSTON - Gary Cunningham is 76-years-old. He's not a lawyer, but he's acting as his own in a federal case against his bank after he says $20,000 was transferred from his account fraudulently. 

AI voice cloning 

In December, we brought you the story of Gary Cunnigham, a man who says criminals hacked into his email, cloned his voice and convinced his accountant to re-direct a routine business transfer to a new bank. 

"She was convinced it was me talking to her - but I didn't - I was on a plane to Chicago. There's no way that was me," said Cunnigham. 

He says the $20,000 transfer happens every month from PlainsCapital bank to his Chase account - but these criminals allegedly re-routed the transfer to Pathward N.A., a bank in North Dakota that Cunningham had never heard of. 

Cunningham filed a police report with West University Police and says the detectives have been very proactive, but realized that it's rare criminals like these get caught. 

He says through research he found that many senior citizens like himself are targeted by con-artists. The Federal Bureau of Investigation estimates that $3 billion a year is lost to elder fraud. 

"They're scamming a lot of the elderly that don't have the means to defend themselves," said Cunningham. 

The use of AI to clone voices is a growing concern. "Those numbers are going to continue to grow and these are people from all over the world doing this. It's not just domestic, its international," said automation and AI expert Dr. Patrick Dicks. 

The lawsuit

Cunningham says he's looking for a remedy, one many in his position haven't gotten. 

On June 5, Cunningham filed a federal complaint with the Southern District of Texas suing PlainsCapital and Pathward N.A. claiming the institutions should have better protection against this kind of fraud. 

"I believe I have enough information here to force the banks to do something different because they were negligent - grossly negligent," said Cunningham. 

Cunningham is no lawyer, but he has successfully filed his lawsuit and both banks have been served. He says he wants his money back, but most of all, he wants to protect others from this kind of crime. 

"I'm hoping there will be enough pressure and understanding from the institutions and the banks that something can be done - and I'm telling you that from the heart, that's the truth," he said. 

How is Gary going to pull it off alone?

Cunningham says he learned the ways of the court system through his late wife. 

"My wife taught me how to do this stuff," he said. 

He says, with the guidance of a few lawyer friends, he was encouraged to file the suit pro-se. He anticipates only spending about $1,000 on the case and would spend much more if he hired representation. 

"I, at least, have enough knowledge to be dangerous, and I don't want to be dangerous; I just want to be informed enough," he said. "I believe I can be effective, and if I'm not, I'll fall on my face. That's okay, I've done that before too."

When asked why he was taking the case on alone, he replied,  "Attorneys - when I've learned from the best - they just don't intimidate me." He paused, smiled, and added, "My wife did intimidate me though! I want you to know that," he chuckled. 

FOX 26 reached out to PlainsCapital about the suit, and they replied they do not comment on pending litigation, while Pathward N.A. has not replied to our inquiry.