Impersonation calls target the reflex to help someone we love immediately. A caller claims to be a family member — arrested, hospitalised, stranded, in an accident — or an official acting on their behalf. Money is needed now, and the target is asked not to tell anyone. Short, audible clips are enough for voice cloning to make this considerably more convincing than it once was.

The script is consistent

  • Immediate distress, often with a poor connection or a claim of injury to explain a voice that sounds slightly wrong.
  • A third party takes over: a lawyer, officer, or doctor who explains the payment required.
  • Explicit secrecy — do not tell mum, do not tell your husband, it would be embarrassing.
  • Payment by transfer, gift card, cryptocurrency, or a courier collecting cash.
  • Escalating urgency that intensifies the moment you hesitate.

The one action that defeats all of it

Hang up, and call the person back on the number you already have. Not a number the caller gives you. If they cannot be reached, call someone else who would know. This works regardless of how convincing the voice is, because it removes the caller's control of the channel — which is the entire basis of the attack.

Agree a code word

Choose a word with the people closest to you and agree it will be asked for in any emergency involving money. It costs one conversation and defeats voice cloning entirely. Make sure older relatives know it, and know they can use it without causing offence.

The same structure appears as tax authorities demanding immediate payment, police claiming your account is compromised and asking you to move funds to a "safe account", and utility companies threatening disconnection. No genuine agency demands payment in gift cards or cryptocurrency, and no bank or police force will ever ask you to move money to a different account for safekeeping. That specific request is fraud, every time.

Protecting relatives who are targeted repeatedly

Once a number is on a list, calls continue. Practical steps: call screening or blocking, a shared rule that any money request gets a second opinion first, and framing it as something everyone in the family does rather than a restriction on one person. Dignity matters here, and lectures reliably reduce the chance of being told next time.