AI Voice Clone Scam Steals $5,400 From California Mother in 5.5-Hour Kidnapping Hoax
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Oct 7
AI Voice Clone Scam Steals $5,400 From California Mother in 5.5-Hour Kidnapping Hoax
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Oct 7
Summary
$5,400 was drained from Deborah Del Mastro through four MoneyGram and Western Union transfers after a caller used what she says was an AI clone of her daughter's voice in a fake kidnapping.
For 5.5 hours, the scammer kept Del Mastro on the phone, claimed a Mexican drug cartel had taken her 37-year-old daughter, demanded up to $20,000 and warned that hanging up meant she would never see her again.
The hoax ended only when the caller said her daughter had been released outside a Walmart; Del Mastro then called Sarah directly and learned she had been at work the entire time.
Sarah immediately suspected AI voice cloning, a tactic federal agencies say can be built from short audio clips and used to supercharge the FBI's long-running 'virtual kidnapping' scam.
Del Mastro, who later told a U.S. Senate committee she remained traumatized, said the loss wiped out the couple's accessible cash and now urges families to set verification steps before emergency calls arrive.