A telephone call arrives from your manager, family member or business partner. The voice sounds right, they know familiar details and they urgently need money or sensitive information.
Unfortunately, it may not be them.
Artificial intelligence can now reproduce a person’s voice from short recordings found in videos, social media posts, podcasts or voicemail greetings. Criminals can combine these cloned voices with information collected online to create highly convincing scams.
How an AI voice scam works
The caller may claim to be:
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A family member who has lost their telephone or needs emergency assistance
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A company director authorising an urgent payment
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An employee requesting a password reset
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A supplier confirming changed bank details
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A bank or technology support representative
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A customer asking for access to an account
The quality of the voice is no longer a reliable way to confirm someone’s identity.
Pause before acting
AI impersonation scams depend on urgency. The caller may insist that you act immediately, keep the conversation secret or avoid contacting anyone else.
If the request involves money, passwords, customer information or account access, stop and verify it independently.
Hang up and call the person on a telephone number you already know. Do not use a number supplied during the suspicious call.
Create a family or workplace security phrase
Consider agreeing on a private verification phrase with family members or employees. It should be something that cannot easily be discovered through social media.
Businesses should also establish clear procedures for:
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Changing supplier bank details
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Authorising large payments
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Resetting passwords
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Providing customer information
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Granting access to systems
No urgent telephone call should override these procedures.
Limit the information available to scammers
Review the personal and business information visible on social media. Public posts may reveal employee names, job titles, travel plans, family relationships and the people authorised to approve payments.
Be especially careful with publicly accessible audio and video featuring business owners, executives or finance staff.
What to do if you receive a suspicious call
Do not provide information or make a payment. Record the time, telephone number and details of the request, then contact the person or organisation through a verified channel.
If money has already been transferred, contact your bank immediately. Report the incident to Scamwatch and, where appropriate, ReportCyber.
The safest response to an urgent request remains simple: pause, verify and use a second communication channel.
Wednesday, September 30, 2026
