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Deborah Del Mastro picked up her phone last week and heard her daughter screaming.
A man was on the line saying he had taken her. He wanted $20,000. Deborah heard her own daughter's voice begging her to send the money. So she did, as much as she could pull together. Five thousand dollars, wired before she could think straight.
Her daughter was never kidnapped. The voice on the phone wasn't her daughter at all.
It was a copy built by a computer.
The FBI put out a fresh warning about this one last Monday, June 2nd.
They are calling it one of the fastest-growing scams in the country right now, and they say Americans have already lost more than $890 million to scams like it. The reason it works is that the technology has gotten very good and very cheap.
A criminal only needs about three seconds of someone's voice to make a believable copy. They take that three seconds from a Facebook video, a TikTok clip, an old voicemail greeting – even a scam phone call where they insistently try to get you to say “Yes” so they can record your voice and clone it. Anywhere a person has spoken into a phone.
Armed with the copy of a loved one’s voice, they call you. They make sure you hear panic. They tell you not to hang up and not to call anybody. They want money sent in a way you can't get back: a wire, a Zelle, gift cards, sometimes cryptocurrency.
Here is the part I want you to remember, though: The voice can be perfect. Don't trust the voice.
WHAT TO DO THIS WEEK
Pick a family safe word today. Something simple but specific that nobody outside your house would guess. Not a pet's name. Not a street you grew up on. Tell every grown child, every grandchild, and your spouse. Write it on a sticky note inside a kitchen drawer if you need to. If a panicked call ever comes in asking for money, you ask for the safe word before you do anything else. A real family member will know it. A scammer will not.
Hang up and call back on a number you already have. If a "family emergency" call presses you to stay on the line, hang up anyway. Then call that family member on the phone number you already have for them. Not a number the caller gave you.
Change your voicemail greeting. If your outgoing message is your full name in your own voice, that is three seconds a scammer can take. Most cell phones let you switch to the default robotic greeting. That's the safer choice now.
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ALSO THIS WEEK
That McAfee bill you didn't expect. A fake invoice scam is filling inboxes right now, claiming you owe several hundred dollars for an antivirus renewal from McAfee, Norton, or Microsoft. The email looks official and the phone number on it goes straight to a scammer who will try to talk you into installing software that gives them control of your computer. Don't click and don't call back. Log into your account the way you always do and check from there.
The Medicare "drug cap" call. Medicare just put a new $2,100 yearly cap on what you pay out of pocket for prescription drugs. Scammers are calling seniors and telling them they have to "activate" it or pay a small fee to qualify.
You do NOT need to pay a single penny to qualify for this. The cap is automatic.
If anyone calls about it and asks for your Medicare number, hang up.
Talk soon,
Tom
StayPatched
P.S. If you have a parent, an aunt, or a neighbor who would pick up the phone and believe the voice on the other end, forward this email to them today. Not next week. The phone could ring tonight.