Grandparent Scams Take Advantage of Your Love for Your Family

AI increases the effectiveness of scams

The grandparent scam, as it’s commonly known, has been around for many years. Impostors pose as relatives, claiming they are in trouble and need money. But voice cloning and AI bring a new wrinkle, allowing criminals to use a clip of your loved one’s voice to impersonate them. That’s exactly what Schildhorn thinks happened in his case: “There was no doubt in my mind that it was his voice on the phone — it was the exact cadence with which he speaks,” he testified.

It takes just three seconds of audio to clone your loved one's voice, according to a 2023 report by McAfee, which specializes in online protection solutions. “In a lot of the grandparent scams, people have used voice copies from social media clips,” says Jennifer Pitt, a senior analyst in Javelin Strategy & Research’s fraud and security practice. 

“If I can get a hold of — through a data breach — some of your contacts, I can call people pretending to be you,” says Alex Quilici, CEO of YouMail, a call protection company. The scam is dangerously effective. “You'll do anything for your kids.”

Criminals may soon have a more potent weapon: live video. Combine AI voice clones with deep fake technology, and it will become very difficult to distinguish real videos or calls from fakes, notes Mark Solomon, president of the International Association of Financial Crimes Investigators.

At a recent conference, Solomon says, he was given a demonstration of the technology in action. As someone spoke into a camera, their face was transformed into the face of someone completely different when viewed on a screen. If he were a scammer, Solomon says, “I could steal a picture off of your LinkedIn page [and] create a live version of you.”

While this use of AI isn’t widespread yet, says Solomon, it’s quickly getting there, creating problems not only for grandparent scams but also for other imposter and romance scams.

Warning signs of a grandparent scam

One of the best ways to fight against scams is to learn how scammers work. In this case, criminals manipulate victims into believing that if they don’t move quickly, their son, daughter or grandchild might have to stay in jail longer, face more serious charges or be prevented from getting medical help.

If you get a panicked call from a loved one, there are a few red flags that indicate it's a scammer on the phone:

• An accident or robbery in which your loved one has been injured. The accident location may be in a foreign country, even a location your loved one has traveled to, which scammers may have seen on a social media channel. 
• An arrest for injuring a child or a pregnant woman. The scammer may claim your loved one was drunk driving. 
• Constant phone contact. The scammer will insist on staying on the phone while you get the money. Or they may keep you busy with a quick succession of calls from a “cop," a “lawyer,” as well as “court staff,” all impostors.
• Time pressure. The longer you hesitate, the caller implies, the worse it will get for your loved one loved one. "Somebody is trying to panic you into letting your guard down in ways that maybe you normally wouldn't," says Hugh Thompson, executive chairman of RSAC, an educational community for cybersecurity professionals.
• Demand for money. You are given specific instructions on how to send money, usually involving gift cards, wire transfers or cryptocurrency. The scammer may even send someone to pick up cash from you.
• Secrecy. Your loved one or the “official” tells you to keep the incident secret.

How to protect yourself from grandparent scams

Even with the advent of AI, there are still ways you can protect yourself. 

• Review your social media privacy settings. Set accounts to private so only people you know can access your posts and photos. Scammers search social media sites for family information they can use to fool you.
• Set up call-blocking technology.  Spam filtering apps are available from your cellular carrier as well as companies such as YouMail and Truecaller. 
• Set up a code word with loved ones. Select a word only you and your loved ones know to verify that they are genuinely experiencing an emergency.“ My kids know,” says Quilici, ”If they don't say the word, I don't believe it's them.” If you worry you won't remember a code word, pick a family story only your loved ones are likely to know, suggests Marti DeLiema, a professor at the University of Minnesota who studies scams.
• Hang up and call family members or friends if you have any concerns that the emergency could be real. Scammers plead with you to keep the situation secret so you won’t try to confirm it.
• Verify the identity of anyone claiming to be law enforcement, a doctor or an official. Look up the relevant agency or official and call, by a number you find yourself, to verify the person’s identity and any information they’ve given you. Law enforcement will never contact a family member to collect bail money on behalf of someone else.
• Above all, stay calm, no matter how dire the grandchild’s alleged predicament sounds. Criminals want to get you upset so you’re less likely to think clearly.

How to report a grandparent scam

• Contact your bank immediately, in case there’s any chance they can stop or reverse the transaction, suggests Kathy Stokes, AARP’s director of fraud prevention programs.
  
• If you sent money via wire transfer, contact Western Union’s fraud hotline (800-448-1492) as soon as possible. For MoneyGram, call (800-926-9400) or report online.
• Report the crime to local law enforcement.
• File a report with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) online or at 877-382-4357 or the FBI IC3 at www.ic3.gov. You might also want to notify your state’s attorney general office. Not every complaint leads to enforcement action, but the information can help officials spot trends and sometimes identify the criminals.   
• For support and guidance, the trained fraud specialists at the free AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline, 877 -908-3360, can share information on what to do next and how to avoid future scams. The AARP Fraud Watch Network also offers online group support sessions.

This story, originally published in 2018, has been rewritten and updated with expert interviews and information about the use of AI.