AI voice-cloning and impersonation scams
Criminals can use AI-generated audio to impersonate a close relative in a crisis, asking for immediate financial help or demanding a ransom. They also use AI-generated video in real-time video chats, posing as company executives, law enforcement or other authority figures (FBI IC3).
What official agencies advise
- Agree on a secret word or phrase with your family to verify each other's identity (FBI IC3).
- Don't trust the voice. Call the person who supposedly contacted you on a phone number you know is theirs and verify the story. If you can't reach them, try to get in touch through another family member or their friends (FTC).
- If a caller says they are from your bank or another organisation, hang up, look up the organisation's contact details yourself and call that number directly (FBI IC3).
- If someone you know asks you to send money or cryptocurrency, independently confirm their contact information before taking action, and think critically about whether the request is plausible (FBI IC3).
- Do not send money, gift cards, cryptocurrency or other assets to people you do not know or have met only online or over the phone (FBI IC3).
- Limit what you share publicly: where possible, limit online content of your image or voice, make social-media accounts private and limit followers to people you know (FBI IC3).
- At work, use a secondary channel or two-factor authentication to verify requests for changes in account information with the intended recipient (FBI IC3).
If it happens to you
- If you paid by bank transfer, report it to your bank or credit union immediately and ask them to reverse the payment. If you paid through a payment app, a wire transfer company, a gift card or cryptocurrency, contact that company or issuer immediately (FTC).
- In the United States, file a report with the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov. If possible, include the scammer's details (such as name and phone number), the payment details and how the contact started (FBI IC3).
- You can also report the scam to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov (FTC).
- In the United Kingdom, report cyber crime and fraud to Report Fraud at reportfraud.police.uk, the national reporting service that replaced Action Fraud (UK government).
Sources
- FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, "Criminals Use Generative Artificial Intelligence to Facilitate Financial Fraud" (3 December 2024).
- FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, "Senior US Officials Impersonated in Malicious Messaging Campaign" (15 May 2025).
- FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, "Business Email Compromise (BEC)" information page.
- US Federal Trade Commission, "Scammers use AI to enhance their family emergency schemes" (March 2023).
- US Federal Trade Commission, "What To Do if You Were Scammed".
- UK government news story, "Report Fraud: New service from City of London Police" (4 December 2025).