Deepfake scams
AI can now clone a familiar voice from a few seconds of audio, or fake a face on video. The realism is no longer proof of who you're actually talking to.
How it works
A scammer calls sounding exactly like your child, your parent, or your boss, with an urgent request for money or sensitive information. Or a video that looks authentic asks you to approve something fast.
The voice or face being convincing is the whole point — and the reason the old instinct ("I'd recognize them") no longer holds. What still works is verifying through a second, independent channel.
Common forms
Red flags
Spot it in the wild
The voice is convincing because it may be cloned from a few seconds of audio. The tells aren't in the sound — they're in the structure: urgency, secrecy, and a reason you can't reach them normally. Hang up and call your son's real number. A family safe word settles it in seconds.
What to do instead
The right response
Verify on a second channel. Hang up and call the person on their real number. Agree on a family "safe word" for genuine emergencies. Treat a realistic voice or face as unverified until you've confirmed it another way.
If you fell for it
- 1Verify on a second channel before acting — call the real person back on a known number.
- 2If you already sent money, contact your bank or the payment platform immediately.
- 3Report it to the FTC, and for business wire fraud, to the FBI's IC3 at ic3.gov.
- 4Set up a family safe word now, so the next call like this is easy to defuse.
Test your judgment
See if you can spot scams like this one in our quiz.