Voice Cloning Is Real — Verify High-Stakes Requests Before Acting

AI can now clone a voice from just a few seconds of audio. Scammers use this to impersonate family members in distress — calling parents pretending to be their child in an emergency, or calling employees pretending to be their CEO. The voice sounds convincing because it is based on real recordings from social media or phone calls.

Establish a family code word that you only share in person, never digitally. If you receive an urgent call asking for money or sensitive information from someone who sounds familiar, hang up and call them back on their known number. The real person will understand; the scammer will not be there.