Scammers can clone a loved one’s voice from a short clip posted online, so a familiar voice asking for money proves nothing. Agree on a family code word in person, and ask for it on any urgent request for money. If the caller can’t give it, hang up and call your relative’s own number.
Suppose your grandson calls in tears. He crashed the car, the police are holding him, he needs $3,000 for bail tonight, and he begs you not to tell his parents.
It sounds exactly like him, and that no longer proves anything. A short clip of someone’s voice, lifted from something they posted online, is enough for a voice-cloning program to make a scammer sound just like them, the FTC warns. The same call can reach a parent in a college student’s voice. Caller ID can be faked to show a trusted number, too.
A scammer can’t copy something your family never put online. That’s why the FBI recommends a family secret word or phrase that anyone calling for help has to know. It takes a few minutes to set one up and learn how to use it.
- Pick a word or phrase no one could dig up on social media. Pet names, schools, streets, and favorite teams are out.
- Share it in person with grandparents, parents, teens, and college students. Never text it or post it.
- Ask for it on any call or message that wants money fast, even when the voice is familiar. The caller says it first, never you.
- If the caller can’t give it, hang up and call your relative at the number you already have, or another family member if you can’t reach them.
The rest of the script gives scammers away, too. The caller insists there’s no time, asks you to keep it quiet, and wants to be paid by wire transfer, gift card, cryptocurrency, a payment app, or cash handed to a courier at your door. Report the call at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
Choose the word at your next family get-together and say it out loud once so it sticks. After that, one question settles any call like this.
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