10/01/2026
🚨SCAM ALERT – Convincing AI Voice Cloning Scam Phone Calls Targets Family Members to Exploit Money🚨
September 30, 2026
There’s a disturbing new scam going around where scammers are using AI (artificial intelligence) to clone voices, including those of children, to make fake emergency calls to parents, grandparents and guardians.
How it works:⏬⏬
Scammers obtain a few seconds of voice/audio clips of your child or grandchild’s voice from social media or other sources, clone it, and use AI to generate a script using that voice. The scammer then “spoofs” or fakes the caller ID of a simulated phone through a computer so it looks like the child or grandchild is calling.
The target of the scam, often a parent, grandparent or other elderly family member, receives a call claiming a family member is in danger and needs urgent help. The scammer is very convincing and the voice sounds like the actual family member. The scammer then uses fear as a tactic and claims they need large amounts of money immediately or they are going to be hurt or another emergency which is life and death.
In a recent case reported to the Sheriff’s Office, the victim reported they received a phone call from what they thought was their child. The voice that sounded like their child, claimed they were being held against their will and an individual was going to start cutting off the child’s fingers one at a time until they received a ransom payment worth thousands of dollars in the form of gift cards.
If you get a panicked urgent call like this, as hard as it might be to stay calm, pause to consider the information being relayed and details around the call. Does the information being relayed sound like something that would be logical for where your child or grandchild or family member is located?
If the caller is demanding payment in the form of gift cards it is always a red flag. Often these scammers use social engineering via Social Media Accounts to know where the child, grandchild or other family member lives and works and uses that information to sound convincing.
Always remember that no matter how scams continue to evolve the tactics remain the same:
🚩Scammers use fear to force immediate action based on emotion;
🚩The caller demands immediate payment in the form of gift cards, cash apps (Venmo), or cryptocurrency (Bitcoin) because these transactions can’t be traced or stopped once in progress;
🚩Keeping you on the line with threats of bodily harm, arrest, or lawsuits
PROTECT YOUR FAMILY:⚠
The best way to protect your family is to establish a secret word or phrase that only you would know. Use it to verify identity on any unexpected call asking for money.
Here’s how it would work - If you get a frantic call or text saying, “I’ve been arrested,” “I was in an accident,” or “I need money right now,” slow down and confirm the caller is actually your family member by asking them to confirm the family password.
If the caller doesn’t know the password or makes up excuses, hang up and call your family member directly or call someone who may be with them.
If the caller knows the password, trust but verify. Call them back on a number you know is theirs. Don’t trust the voice.
Set your family password up in person, and never text or post it anywhere and don’t make it something that can be guessed by looking at Social Media.
A family password won’t make you scam-proof, but it does provide the pause you need which is exactly what these scams are designed to prevent.
Someone you love needs to hear this, especially elderly family members and neighbors. Please share and if you hear of someone calling a friend, neighbor or relative and this is happening to them step in and be the calm voice to ask – is this call real? Are they being scammed?
For more information on AI Generated voice scams visit:
This Public Service Announcement (PSA) is an update to Alert Number I-04182025-PSA titled, "FBI Warns of Scammers Impersonating the IC3." This PSA contains updated information about an ongoing fraud scheme where criminal scammers are impersonating FBI personnel facilitating Internet Crime Complaint....
