A traditional scam has recently been adapted to be even more deceptive. For many years, a common scam call involved getting a call from someone such as a police officer or other authority figure, asking you to urgently pay money to help get a family or friend out of trouble.

Recently, advancements in AI technology have given scammers the ability to clone voices using clips and recordings of a person’s voice, often from social media posts. This means that now scam calls can come from someone who sounds just like a family member or friend claiming to be in a situation where they need money. Scammers have gone as far as to stage fake kidnapping calls.

In most of these cases the caller will request to be paid via a wire transfer, cryptocurrency, or a gift card. If this is the case, hang up on the caller immediately and contact the person who claims to be calling directly. If you can’t reach your loved one, look up the phone number of the call and call your local law enforcement and tell them what’s going on. 

A spokesperson for the FTC said the agency couldn’t provide an estimate of the number of reports of people who’ve been ripped off by thieves using voice-cloning technology. But as technology continues to advance, it is important to stay up to date on scamming tactics and be aware of the threat that they pose to you and your loved ones.