Verdict · At home · Reviewed October 2026 · 5 sources
A call sounded like my child or grandchild and asked for money
Treat it as a scam until you reach them yourself, because AI can copy a voice from a short clip. Hang up and call them on the number you already have before you send anything.
The next two minutes
Hang up, even if they beg you not to. Hurry and secrecy are part of the script.
Call your family member on the number saved in your phone. No answer? Call someone who would be with them.
If your family has a safe word, ask for it. No word, no money.
Never pay by gift card, wire, crypto or cash handed to a courier on a call you didn't start.
Who to tell
- The rest of your family
Tell them it happened, so the next call reaches someone who already knows the rule.
- ReportFraud.ftc.gov
Tell the Federal Trade Commission, even if you didn't send anything.
- ic3.gov
If money was sent, report it to the FBI's internet crime center with every detail you have, and call your bank.
Say this
“If a call sounds like family asking for money, I hang up and call them back on the number I already have.”
One line to repeat, so the whole household (or team) answers the same way.
The step that stops the next one
Make sure it can't happen again
Your free Clear Path starts from this and puts the rest of your digital life in order, one small step at a time. No account needed.
Start my path from hereWhy this works
The figures behind the verdict, each with a dated source.
A scammer can copy a voice from a short audio clip, often taken from video posted online.1 The FBI's report on 2025 complaints says losses to these "distress" calls that used voice cloning passed $5 million, and that the calls now imitate other relatives and friends, not only grandchildren.2
The FBI recommends a secret word or phrase that only your family knows, and hanging up to call back on a number you look up yourself.3 The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) gives the same advice: reach the person directly before you send money.4
Pressure to keep the call secret, and requests for a wire, crypto, a payment app or gift cards, are signs of a scam. Call another relative or friend even if the caller says not to.5
Why the rule holds: you never have to judge the voice. Calling back on a number you already have works whether the copy is perfect or not.
By the numbers
Over $5 million2
Reported lost in 2025 to distress calls that used voice cloning, as counted in complaints that mentioned AI.
FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), 2025 IC3 Annual Report, p. 39 (Artificial Intelligence section)
Common questions
It really sounded like them. How can it not be real?
AI tools can copy a voice well enough to fool a parent, so the sound of the voice tells you nothing either way. That's why the answer is a procedure, not a judgment: hang up and call the number you already have.
What if they really are in trouble and I can't reach them?
Call someone who would be with them, or the place they said they are, using a number you look up yourself. Real emergencies still have real people you can reach, and none of them need a gift card.
Keep going
- ThreatHomeBusiness
Voice cloning and deepfake scams
Criminals can copy a voice from a short clip and fake faces on a video call, then use them to ask for money in a hurry. In 2025 the FBI logged 22,364 complaints that mentioned AI, with losses near $893 million, most of it in investment scams; voice-cloned 'distress' calls alone cost victims more than $5 million. The defense is low-tech: pause, hang up, and confirm through a number or channel you already trust.
Read - GuideHome
The family safe word and callback rule
Pick a private word your family uses only to prove who's really calling, and agree that any urgent request for money gets a hang-up and a callback to a number you already have. The FBI recommends the secret word, and the FTC and FCC recommend the callback. Setting it up takes one family conversation.
Read - GuideHome
Help an older relative stay ahead of AI phone scams
Older adults report losing money to fraud less often than younger adults, but when a scam works it tends to cost them more, especially when it starts with a phone call. People 60 and older reported $7.7 billion in losses to the FBI in 2025, including $352 million in complaints that mentioned AI. This guide helps you set up call screening, bank alerts, and a trusted contact together, as partners, and plan what to do if something gets through.
Read
Sources
Every figure on this page links to where it came from. We favor government, standards, and methodology-backed sources, and we take no money from anyone we cite.
- 1Scammers use AI to enhance their family emergency schemes · Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Consumer Advice · March 20, 2023Government · accessed October 23, 2026
- 22025 IC3 Annual Report (Internet Crime Report) · FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) · April 2026Government · accessed October 23, 2026
- 3Criminals Use Generative Artificial Intelligence to Facilitate Financial Fraud (I-120324-PSA) · FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) · December 3, 2024Government · accessed October 23, 2026
- 4Deep-Fake Audio and Video Links Make Robocalls and Scam Texts Harder to Spot · Federal Communications Commission (FCC) · June 8, 2024Government · accessed October 23, 2026
- 5Scammers Use Fake Emergencies To Steal Your Money · Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Consumer Advice · September 2023Government · accessed October 23, 2026