AI Voice-Cloning Scams Spur Silence on Unknown Calls as 40% of Young Adults Skip Greetings
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Sep 7
AI Voice-Cloning Scams Spur Silence on Unknown Calls as 40% of Young Adults Skip Greetings
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Sep 7
Summary
Consumer advice now urges people to stay silent when answering unidentified calls, because scammers can clone a voice from a brief phone greeting and use it to solicit money from relatives.
Which?, the BBC and the Guardian have all highlighted the tactic, which relies on AI tools capturing enough audio from a simple “hello” to mimic a victim’s voice.
That risk is colliding with a broader shift in phone habits: a 2025 survey found 40% of 18- to 24-year-olds think answering without any greeting is acceptable.
Caller ID, texting and messaging have already made phone calls feel like continuations of existing conversations, turning the old default greeting into both a fading habit and a potential security risk.