A familiar voice asking for an urgent transfer: voice deepfakes
Cloning a voice takes just a few minutes of audio. Here are the signs that give away a fake call, and a family code word that protects you.
Imagine an unknown number calls and you hear your brother's voice exactly: "I'm in trouble, I lost my phone, I need money right now, don't tell anyone." It's his voice and his tone. But it isn't him.
How does this happen?
Today's AI tools can learn a person's voice from a short clip: a posted video, a voice message or an interview. The scammer then types the script, and the tool speaks it in that person's voice.
What makes this trick work isn't the technology alone. The scammer adds classic social engineering: urgency, secrecy and an emotional situation that stops you from thinking.
Signs of a fake call
- Extreme urgency: "Right now, there's no time."
- A request for secrecy: "Don't tell Mom" or "Don't call anyone."
- A new number with a ready-made story: "I lost my phone, this is my friend's number."
- An unusual payment method: a transfer to someone else's account, gift cards or cryptocurrency.
- Dodging questions: when you ask about a personal detail, they change the subject or hang up.
The family code word
Agree with your family on a word or question that only you know and that's never posted anywhere. Whenever an emergency call asks for money, ask for it. AI can imitate a voice, but it doesn't know what you agreed on.
The strongest step is also the simplest: hang up and call the person back on the number you know. If they really are in trouble, you'll know within a minute.
- Agree on an emergency code word with your family today.
- For any urgent request for money by voice, hang up and call the number you know.
- Post fewer long voice clips on public accounts.