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Kimberly Hyun, an assistant professor at the University of Cincinnati, suggests that family members agree on a safe word known only to each other; if you receive a call from an unknown number claiming a family member is in trouble, you should hang up immediately and call that person back to verify. Fortune reported on the case of Deborah Del Mastro, a mother in Martinez, California: in May she received a call from someone posing as a Mexican drug cartel, and the caller played an AI-cloned recording of her daughter crying and screaming. Following the instructions, she wired $5,400 to Mexico from multiple locations within five hours, only to discover afterward that her daughter had been at work the whole time. The report also noted that McAfee tests showed that a voice sample of just three seconds is enough to generate a clone that matches 85% of the original voice; a survey by Gallup and the Stop Scams Alliance estimated that in 2025 about 15 million American adults were scammed, with losses of about $68 billion, of which 12% involved AI or deepfakes.
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Voice researcher suggests families establish a safety code word
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Oct 24
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Scammers used AI to clone a daughter's voice and fake a kidnapping; voice experts recommend that families set up a safety code word
Fortune reported that Deborah Del Mastro, a mother in Martinez, California, received a call in May from someone posing as a Mexican drug cartel; the caller played an AI-cloned recording of her daughter crying and screaming. Following instructions, she wired $5,400 to Mexico from multiple locations within five hours, only to later discover that her daughter had been at work the whole time. McAfee tests show that a mere three-second voice sample is enough to generate a clone that matches the original voice by 85%; a Gallup and Stop Scams Alliance survey estimates that in 2025 about 15 million American adults were scammed, with losses of about $68 billion, 12% of which involved AI or deepfakes. Kimberly Hyun, an assistant professor at the University of Cincinnati, recommends that family members agree on a code word known only to each other, and that when receiving a call from an unknown number claiming a family member is in trouble, they should hang up immediately and call that person back directly to verify.