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Your phone rings and without thinking, you answer it. He’s your spouse. Or your grandmother. Maybe the friend you always post TikToks with online. And they are asking for your help.
They were in a car accident and you need to provide some personal information as an emergency contact. They are in prison and need your help. Or maybe it’s even simpler than that: Grandma can’t log into her account and has to send you a code. Can you please read it to him?
The familiar rhythm of their voices catches you off guard – but none of them are real.
Their voices have been cloned and malicious actors are donning their audio guises to extract your personal information and sometimes cold hard cash. This number is growing, making even more people vulnerable to this deceptive technology, but there are very simple ways to protect yourself and your loved ones.
Scroll through TikTok and you’ll come across hundreds of stories detailing stories concocted by scammers to impersonate your loved ones. In one of these videos with more than 450,000 views, a young woman writes that her mother was almost scammed by an imposter who imitated her grandmother’s voice. The only way they can catch it? Grandma is no longer alive.
Scams are increasing. In 2025, Americans lost approximately $148.2 billion to digital crimea jump of more than 25 percent from the previous year. Recent data from digital security company NordVPN has revealed that a growing number of scammers are offering voice scam services to malicious actors on Dark Web forums and Telegram channels. Sales pitches for voice cloning services have increased sevenfold over the past two years, NordVPN reported.
Why more and more people are falling for audio scams
One of the reasons this number continues to rise is the proliferation of sophisticated technology – but more importantly. accessible — generative AI tools, explained Marijus Briedis, CTO at NordVPN.
“A few years ago, there was something slightly weird about a cloned voice, and most people could hear it. That’s gone now,” Briedis said.
However, advanced technology is only part of the growing scam industry. Briedis explained that these tools are increasingly being packaged, priced and sold directly to the average person.
Voice cloning tools, previously a standalone technology novelty, are now being sold as a single feature in common, overarching criminal toolkits, or “scam kits,” experts told Mashable. These kits include access to legitimate generative AI tools through jailbroken accounts, personal data mines, and other features sold at increasingly affordable prices.
Credit: Cole Kan/Mashable/Getty
For example, a recent study of dark web markets conducted by NordVPN found that a hacked ElevenLabs Scale account – with unlimited voice cloning – sold for just $150. An ElevenLabs API key only cost $8.
Fraudulent networks no longer need hackers or savvy technologists. Almost anyone with a computer can do this. And that means you need to be prepared.
Step 1: Know the threat and develop a plan
“When anyone can lead the offense, volume becomes the strategy,” Briedis said. “No attempt has to be perfect. There just have to be several.”
But asking someone to be on alert all the time is unfair, Briedis said. Until now, the mantra has been: “Every message, every video, every call. Make a mistake once and that’s the one that counts,” Briedis said. “No one meets this standard throughout their life, and most safety advice assumes that will be the case.”
Crushable speed of light
As an alternative, users can prepare themselves and their community to be able to step in when the moment calls for it.
Credit: Cole Kan/Mashable/Getty
Prepare your contacts
Eyal Elazar, Head of Market Intelligence for the Online Merchant Security Industry Riskdescribed effective scam preparation as being a “digital ambassador” to those around you.
It starts with a little research. Find and save verified contact information from important callers, such as your bank, insurance company, or family law attorneys. You can use this to cross reference callers later.
Then, talk to your circles about what a legitimate phone call would look like. Know who lists you as an emergency contact and in what contexts. Are you an account beneficiary and if so, what do you need to know?
Set a code word
Most Mashable experts recommended creating a code word that you can use with friends and family to confirm who they are. Do not share this anywhere online. “It seems silly until one day it’s not,” Briedis said.
Filter out red flags
There are also common scam requests that are instant red flags, experts told Mashable. Any request for money over the phone is suspicious. There are also more specific indications:
Requests to read a code, sent by SMS or email, by telephone
Requests for passwords or other login credentials
Payment requests via gift cards, wire transfers, crypto exchanges and payment apps
Suggestions for initiating a bank transfer via voice note, phone call or voice message
Ransom demands
Relations with law enforcement conducted by telephone call
Step 2: Putting the phone down can stop a scammer.
“AI doesn’t invent new scams, but it does remove the clues we’ve learned to look for in old ones,” said Donnie Hasseltine, chief information security officer at Arkstone Defense.
It can be difficult to discern the small audio cues that make your loved ones’ voices truly theirs, especially when an individual is confronted with social engineering that creates urgency and incites panic.
So the next tip is to hang up on your friends or “friends”.
Yes, it can cause drama in the group chat. But if you can’t always tell if a voice is real or cloned, it’s best to mute and reset it.
If someone you know personally was supposed to be on the other line, call them back at the number you’re used to before agreeing to anything. If it’s a bank or your workplace, call a number listed on an official website, on the back of a credit card, or on a letter. Many institutions are already well aware of common telephone scams targeting customers.
“Stop judging the content and change the channel instead,” Breidis urged.
Have you been impacted by a scam or security breach?
Step 3: Slow down.
The last and simplest tip is to breathe. Experts told Mashable that urgency is the number one red flag that can indicate you’re the target of a scam, for example, someone claiming to be from the power company demanding money immediately in exchange for keeping your power on. This so-called emergency also makes you more vulnerable to scammers.
Andrew Jones, co-founder of Adaptive Security, said a manufactured sense of urgency as well as a demand for secrecy are both factors found in almost all of the successful scams he has studied.
“Nothing is so urgent that you can’t wait to check it out,” Hasseltine agreed.
So don’t give in to haste. Slow down, hang up, and ask someone else to help you.
And it bears repeating: never. Send. Species.
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Have you ever been the victim of a scam? Here’s what to do.
If a fraudster has already got their hands on your personal information or your money, act quickly:
Block the scammer so they can no longer reach out.
Cut off their access to your bank account or payment method, if you have provided this information. Call your bank immediately. If you sent a wire transfer or gift card, contact the issuer and let the company know you were scammed. Change your passwords. Freeze your credit.
Report your information stolen. Go to Identity theft.gov to create a recovery plan recommended by the government. Report the scam to Social Security Administration Fraud Hotline if you have submitted your SSN.
Stay calm. The vast majority of Americans have been scammed in one way or another. There is help and you can prepare your defenses for next time.
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