Fraudsters use voice-cloning AI to scam man out of $25,000

LOS ANGELES -- A man was swindled out of $25,000 after fraudsters used AI to replicate his son's voice and tricked him into sending money.

Anthony, who doesn't want to give his last name, says he feels like a fool after falling for the scam. However, he's speaking out and sharing his story so others don't get tricked.

"I feel like a fool, but I don't care," Anthony said. "I want to help everybody that I can possibly help."

It all started when he got a phone call that he believed was from his son.

Anthony believed his son had gotten into an accident and struck a pregnant woman who was rushed to the hospital.

After a short conversation he hanged up. He got another call from someone named Michael Roberts who claimed to be a lawyer. He then told Anthony he needed $9,200 for his son's bail.

"He said 'You need to get $9,200 as fast as you can if you want your son out of jail. Otherwise, he's in for 45 days,'" Anthony recalled.

Anthony said tried to call his son back to verify what happened, but the call went to voicemail. He assumed it was because he really was in jail.

Anthony went to the bank to get the money. To avoid suspicion, he told the bank that the money was for a solar panel installation and the bank approved the request.

When Anthony got home, he asked his daughter to call Michael Roberts.

"She says 'We've got the money. What do we do now?'" Anthony explained. "He said 'Don't worry, someone will be at the house. It'll be an Uber car, any minute.' And with that there's an Uber car."

Surveillance video shows his daughter take the money out in a manila envelope. They checked the license plate and the driver to make sure it was a legitimate Uber driver. Anthony's daughter handed over the money and the driver leaves. Then the phone rings again.

This time, the caller identified themselves as Mark Cohen - another attorney involved in the case. The caller said the pregnant woman died.

"The bail has been raised. Mark Cohen says another $15,800 to $25,000," Anthony said.

They repeat everything again - getting more money out of the bank and giving it to another Uber driver who picked up the second package.

Anthony said as things calmed down, they searched and researched on the internet. His daughter then told him the bad news.

"'Dad, I hope I'm wrong. I think you've just been scammed out of $25,000.' It never even crossed my mind until she said those words," Anthony recalled.

Old scam with a new twist

Police say this type of scam is not new. Variations on it have been around for years, but they say new technology can make calls and notifications appear more realistic.

"The scammers are just becoming more clever and sophisticated," LAPD detective Chelsea Saeger said. "They are using social media and technology to craft these very believable and convincing stories, and people really do believe they're talking to a grandchild or a government official."

In this case, Anthony said when he first picked up the phone it sounded exactly like his son.

"It was his voice. It was absolutely his voice," he said. "There was no doubt about it."

Police say that's a new twist. Artificial intelligence, AI, can be used to impersonate someone's voice and it sounds like the real thing.

"They call and when you answer and it's a scammer, there's silence," Saeger said. "They want you to say 'hello' or 'is anybody there?' All they need is three seconds of your voice to input it into AI and to clone it."

Thieves can also use social media accounts to get information about someone.

"They'll go through your video posts, and if you or a loved one are speaking, they can grab your voice that way," Saeger said.

Detectives don't want to give out too much information about this ongoing investigation, but they say usually in these cases, the drivers that are hired through Uber or Lyft are not typically involved in this scam. They are unaware they are even part of it.

In this case, Anthony says the callers kept making it sound that there was a sense of urgency. They tried to keep him off balance.

"They moved me so fast," Anthony said. "I never had a chance to do a second call unless I were to say to them 'Hold it. I'm stopping this whole thing for a minute. I want to talk to my son. I don't care if he's in jail or where he is, I want to talk to my son.' You don't think that way. You don't."

Police say to never send money to someone you don't know, even if they claim they are a government agency or financial institution. Those places will never call and ask you to send money immediately.

"Most recently, they've been asking victims to deposit money into crypto ATM machines or transfer money into crypto accounts," Saeger said. "So if you receive a call and they're requesting you to do any of those things that is an immediate red flag, and it's probably a scam."

Anthony said he feels embarrassed, but he hopes he can help others by telling his story.

"That's my message to everyone watching - to protect themselves and their own families," he said. "That's why I'm doing this."