Risks
AI impersonation scam
A scam that uses a cloned voice or a fake video of someone you know, often a child who sounds hurt, to pressure a family into sending money.
- Parents
What parents should know
An AI impersonation scam fakes a loved one's voice or face and asks for money or secrecy. The feeling of recognition is the trick. Hang up. Call the person on a number you saved before the call. Do not wire funds, buy gift cards, or keep them on the line while you find a computer.
On this page
What is an AI impersonation scam?
These scams pair a voice clone or a video deepfake with a classic urgency script. Your grandchild is in an accident. Your child is detained. A boss needs gift cards. The new part is the voice. The old part is the rush and the payment method that is hard to reverse.
The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center takes reports of internet-enabled fraud. A family password, chosen in advance and never posted, is the practical test. A clone can sound afraid. It should not know a word you only use at home.
Why an AI impersonation scam matters
Parents are the target because they will move faster for a child than for themselves. Practice the callback once, on a calm day, so the day of the call is not the first time you hear the rule. Kids should know the rule too, in case a scam calls a grandparent using their voice from a public video.
Shame keeps people from reporting after they have paid. Report anyway. The report helps the next family, and sometimes helps a bank ask questions. ic3.gov is the US starting point for the fraud. If the scam also threatens intimate images of a minor, add NCMEC.
How it shows up in practice
- A parent hears a sobbing voice, hangs up, and reaches their child on the child's real phone in under a minute.
- The family password fails, and no money moves.
- A grandparent is told about the scam before a recital video goes on a public page.
- After a loss, the family still files at ic3.gov.
How HeyOtto helps
HeyOtto does not place phone calls, clone voices, or ask parents for money. Otto is an in-product assistant. Voice features speak as Otto. They do not impersonate your child. Nothing in the app replaces the family rule for an outside call: hang up and call back. If a child is upset because someone tried to scare them, you can read the HeyOtto chat, and a distress alert can reach you. The scam report still goes to ic3.gov.
- Teach the callback rule next to the account, not inside a lesson about Otto.
- Do not use HeyOtto to script a fake emergency as a prank.
- HeyOtto does not auto-contact emergency services or your bank.
For families
Try freeFAQs
What do I do during the call?
Hang up. Look up the person's number yourself. Call that number. Use the family code word if you set one. Do not send money because the voice is crying. Report the attempt at ic3.gov even if you did not pay.
How did they get my child's voice?
Often from a public video, a voicemail, or a clip someone else posted. You cannot fully prevent a short recording from existing. You can stop treating a voice as proof, and you can think twice about public videos of kids.
Should kids know about this?
Yes, in plain words. Someone may fake your voice to scare a grandparent. We will hang up and call you. We will not send money. We have a code word. Practice once. Skip graphic scam stories.
Is this the same as a deepfake?
The voice or video is a deepfake. The scam is the demand for money or secrecy. You can have a deepfake that is not asking for cash, and you handle that differently. Money plus urgency plus a familiar voice is this scam.
Sources
Last reviewed September 26, 2026. This entry is reviewed twice a year.