AI Voice Clones of Relatives Are Tricking People Into Wiring Thousands

Local Better Business Bureau officials in Virginia and Ohio are warning that scammers are increasingly using AI-generated voices to impersonate victims' friends and family members over the phone, according to Money.com. In one case, California resident Deborah Del Mastro lost $5,400 after a caller claimed to have kidnapped her adult daughter and played what sounded exactly like her daughter crying for help; the scammer kept her on the phone for five and a half hours directing wire transfers before she confirmed her daughter was safely at work. In a similar scheme, an Orlando woman handed over thousands of dollars to couriers after a call that sounded like a jailed friend, followed by a supposed public defender demanding bail money.

Ron Kerbs, founder of AI fraud detection company Kidas, said scammers build these voice clones from recordings people post publicly on social media, and that AI now lets fraudsters research a target's workplace, relationships and travel plans in minutes instead of the hours it used to take a person to gather that information. Kerbs recommends hanging up and independently contacting the person a caller claims to be, and suggests families set up a secret verification phrase that isn't searchable online.