The short answer: scammers can now copy a loved one’s voice from a short clip posted online and use it to call you begging for help (FTC). Don’t trust the voice. Hang up, call your family member on a number you know, and agree on a family safe word ahead of time that a real relative in trouble would say.
How the scam works
The caller sounds like your grandchild, child or friend. Sometimes a fake “lawyer,” “police officer” or “doctor” takes over the call. The story is always an emergency: an accident, an arrest, a hospital bill. The FTC says these scams have three things in common (FTC):
- It’s urgent, and you’re the only one who can help.
- You’re told to keep it secret.
- You have to pay right away, by wire transfer, cryptocurrency, a payment app or gift cards, so the money is hard to get back.
Impersonation scams of all kinds cost people $3.5 billion in 2025, according to reports to the FTC (FTC, 2026). The FBI received 201,266 complaints from people 60 and older in 2025, with $7.7 billion in reported losses (FBI IC3 2025 report).
Set up a family safe word
- Pick a word or short phrase that nobody could guess from social media. Avoid pet names, street names and birthdays.
- Share it in person or on a phone call with the people who matter: children, grandchildren, and anyone who helps with your money.
- Agree on the rule: anyone who calls asking for emergency money has to say the word.
- If the caller can’t say it, hang up.
- Change the word if you think someone outside the family has learned it.
No safe word yet? The FTC suggests asking a question only the real person would know, like “What kind of dog do you have?” (FTC).
What to do if you get the call
- Slow down. Tell the caller you’ll call right back, and hang up (FTC).
- Call your relative on a number you already have, not a number the caller gives you.
- Call someone else in the family, even if the caller told you to keep it secret (FTC).
- Never pay with gift cards, wire transfers, crypto or a courier who comes to your door.
If you already sent money
Act fast. Contact the company you used to pay (your bank, the wire service, the gift card company or the payment app) and ask them to reverse the payment. Then report the scam at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and to your state attorney general (FTC).
Make it harder to copy your family’s voices
- Set social media accounts to friends-only, so strangers can’t download videos with your family’s voices.
- Let calls from unknown numbers go to voicemail. Your phone can screen them for you: see iPhone or Android.
