The phone call that sounds exactly like your grandchild — crying, saying they're in trouble and need money fast — may not be them at all, because researchers showed in 2023 that a familiar voice can be cloned from a three-second sample

The phone call that sounds exactly like your grandchild — crying, saying they're in trouble and need money fast — may not be them at all, because researchers showed in 2023 that a familiar voice can be cloned from a three-second sample

A call comes at an inconvenient hour. Your grandson is on the line, and he is crying. There has been an accident, or an arrest, or a problem at a border, and money has to move inside the next twenty minutes, and please do not tell his mother. The script is old. Family emergency scams have worked by telephone for decades, and the earlier versions leaned on a poor connection, a name mumbled just enough to pass, and a listener willing to complete t…