A local woman was nearly conned out of $6,000 today in an increasingly sophisticated scam that used artificial intelligence to mimic her grandson’s voice, triggering a frantic effort to gather bail money — until a local Askan realized something wasn’t right.
The Askan told TLS the woman received a terrifying phone call from someone claiming to be her grandson. The voice — which she says matched his tone and mannerisms almost exactly — told her he was in police custody and urgently needed $6,000 for bail.
“She was completely panicked,” a local Askan who was contacted by the woman told TLS. “She genuinely believed her grandson was in trouble and immediately called me for help putting together the money,” the Askan told TLS.
But as the Askan began probing further, he grew suspicious.
He called the number the woman had received the call from, but they hung up on him.
He then called the grandson.
“I called the actual grandson directly — and sure enough, he was fine and had no idea any of this was happening.”
He phoned back the woman and explained to her that it was a scam.
The incident is part of a disturbing trend of scams involving AI-generated voices. With just a small sample — sometimes pulled from social media or voicemail greetings — scammers can now produce frighteningly realistic voice clones that mimic loved ones in distress.
“People need to realize how real things can sound these days,” the Askan warned. “It’s getting harder to tell what’s real and what’s fake — and people are falling for it.”
Authorities urge the public to be extra cautious when receiving emergency calls asking for money — especially when the caller requests secrecy or tries to prevent you from contacting others during the phone call.
If you receive such a call, take a moment to verify it, either by calling or texting (perhaps from another phone) the party allegedly in distress, or sending them a text message while on the phone.
“Awareness about these scams is extremely important,” the Askan stated. “Please be Mefarsem it.”
This scam has been going around recently, just hang up and call the person who is supposedly in need of funds in your family . You need to be extra vigilant with the AI technology being able to mimic voice .
Also, Never answer “YES” to any of their questions Because they can use that yes to answer other questions. A good thing to do. If you suspect it’s a scam is to tell the person that they are on a recorded line. That usually makes and hung up.
I got a call from my “Grandson” wanting money. I knew it was a scam so I asked him which grandson are you. He answered “Your oldest”. Then I said “Which one are you as my oldest are twins” . Then I heard “Click”.
And Poz is right- NEVER answer YES.
I know a grandfather this actually happened to. Warn your elderly and vulnerable family member especially if they live alone…
I thought of a wonderful idea. Maybe we can get grandfathers to learn with their grandchildren. The plus is that usually during the day the grandson will contact his grandfather and discuss what time are they learning or some other interesting topic. This way the grandfather knows exactly what is going on, on a daily
basis.
what about the scam called government?
Also AI, as they are unintelligent.
Someone tried this with my mom. It didn’t work. All her grandchildren call her meem. So when this caller asked for grandma my mom hung up. Having a special name for grandparents is a good idea.
Give this tip to grandparents: Families should have a code or a pasuk that the child has to finish. If they don’t know the middle of shabbos zemeiros, or a pasuk in Bereshis, it’s NOT YOUR GRANDKID! Also, most of our grandparents are NOT called grandma.
I’m not going to post which pasuk in Mishlei I’ll use as my code, but ALL my kids know it just from growing up in my home.
You’d be surprised what people in our circles call each other. Including how they refer to their grandparents. Not everyone uses Bubby and Zaidy. It’s not the shtetl of europe anymore.
It’s important for every grandfather and grandmother to have a clear organized list of every grandchild and their cell number.