AI voice cloning scams

Voice-cloning tools need only a short sample - sometimes pulled from a social-media video, a voicemail greeting or a previous call - to generate speech that sounds convincingly like a real person.

The call usually follows a pattern: it's your child, grandchild or parent, they're in trouble (arrested, in hospital, stranded), and they need money urgently. The voice sounds right, which is exactly what makes it dangerous.

We are wired to trust a familiar voice. When the voice is right, the brain fills in the rest, and urgency short-circuits the scepticism you'd apply to a stranger.

• The voice genuinely sounds like them - because it's modelled on them.
• The story is urgent, so there's pressure to act before thinking.
• The scammer may know real details scraped from social media.
• Caller ID can be spoofed, so the number alone proves nothing.

The usual advice - "ask a question only they'd know" or "agree a family safe word" - is weaker than it sounds.

• Personal questions can often be answered from social media or earlier conversation.
• A spoken safe word can be overheard once and reused, or simply forgotten under stress.
• Calling them back helps, but a scammer will claim the phone is broken, lost or about to die.

Instead of trusting the voice, ask for a fresh response from the trusted phone linked to that person's identity. FamVerify sends a short-lived request to their trusted phone, which they approve with Face ID, fingerprint or passcode.

A scammer can clone a voice, but they cannot sign a response from a phone they don't hold. No reply, or an excuse about why they can't respond, is itself the answer.

FamVerify works like a family safe word that can't be faked: the response is signed fresh by the trusted phone behind their identity, not spoken where it can be overheard.

• Hang up and contact the person on a number you already have for them.
• If you've sent money, call your bank immediately using the number on your card.
• Report it to Action Fraud (UK) or the police on 101; call 999 in an emergency.

Read how FamVerify confirms a fresh response on the Security page, or see the 'Hi Mum' scam.