A woman in the United States says she was scammed out of thousands of dollars after fraudsters allegedly used artificial intelligence to clone her daughter’s voice, tricking her into believing the young woman was in serious danger.
The California mother said she received a phone call earlier this month from someone who sounded exactly like her daughter and appeared to be in distress.
She now believes the call was part of an AI-generated scam.
Her experience reflects a growing wave of “voice cloning” fraud, where criminals use artificial intelligence tools to recreate a person’s voice using just a few seconds of recorded audio.
These clips are often sourced from social media or other public platforms.
According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Americans lost more than $893 million to AI-related scams last year.
This includes voice cloning schemes, AI-generated phishing emails, romance scams and other forms of online fraud.
Experts say the technology has become so advanced that many people can no longer reliably distinguish between real and artificial voices.
“For the everyday person, it is just not fair to expect them to be able to spot this stuff,” said Henry Ajder, an expert on AI-generated media who consults for governments and companies. “I struggle with it. Most people do.”
Scammers often research victims and their families through social media before launching their schemes, then pose as relatives or close friends in urgent distress.
Typically, they claim the person has been kidnapped, arrested or is in immediate danger, and demand money quickly in exchange for their safety.
“There was no time to think,” Gary Schildhorn, a Philadelphia attorney who was targeted by an AI voice scam mimicking his son, told CNN last year. “It was all, ‘I have to react to help my son. He’s in trouble.’”
Experts also warn that some attackers now use more advanced systems capable of generating speech in real time, enabling back-and-forth conversations that make scams more convincing.
Fraudsters may also use caller ID spoofing to disguise their number, making it appear as though the call is coming from a trusted contact.
Specialists say traditional warning signs like robotic tones or unnatural pauses are becoming less reliable as AI improves.
Instead, they advise people to watch for behavioral red flags such as urgency, secrecy, or pressure to transfer money quickly through unusual methods.
Victims are encouraged to verify suspicious calls by contacting the person through another number, sending a message, or checking with someone who can confirm their whereabouts.
The California mother, Deborah Del Mastro, told ABC7 News that she only contacted her daughter after sending the money. Her daughter answered immediately and was safe at work.
Experts also recommend families create secret code words or phrases that can be used to verify identity in emergencies.
“Ultimately, if you suspect that something might not be right, it is much better to have your mum or your brother or your friend laugh at you for thinking that they’re a robot,” Ajder said, “than it is to potentially be running to an ATM.”
