A French woman recently received a phone call from what she believed was her son, whose voice was trembling and anxious, reporting an emergency and asking for money. However, the voice was not her son’s at all—it was a digital clone created from a short audio clip found online. This incident is part of a rising trend in France, where more families are being targeted by scams that use artificial intelligence to mimic the voices of loved ones. Cybermalveillance.gouv.fr, a French government-backed cybersecurity platform, reports that these scams are becoming increasingly common. Fraudsters use AI to imitate the voices of family members, often to request money under the guise of an urgent situation. The platform warns that just three seconds of public audio—such as a clip from a video or a social media post—can be enough for AI to create a convincing replica of a person’s voice. The process relies on AI models trained on large collections of voice recordings. These models can identify unique voice traits like tone, rhythm, and pitch. With only a brief audio sample, the AI can generate any phrase in that voice, making it difficult for even close family members to distinguish between a real and a synthetic voice. This technology, once the stuff of science fiction, is now being used to exploit people’s trust in their loved ones. While the cloned voices can sound very realistic, there are some subtle signs that might indicate a scam. These include an unusually steady speaking rate, the absence of natural breathing sounds, or a lack of emotional variation in the voice. Additionally, a synthetic voice might not know personal details, such as family nicknames or inside jokes, which are usually known only to close relatives. To avoid falling victim to these scams, experts advise hanging up and calling the person directly on a known number. Families can also agree on a secret word or question to use when verifying an emergency call. Limiting the sharing of personal voice recordings online is another important step in reducing the risk of voice cloning. As AI technology advances, authorities stress the need for awareness and caution, as the human voice—once a reliable form of identification—is now at risk of being manipulated for fraudulent purposes.