to be coming from a ….

to be coming from a trusted source.

Often the imposter claims to have been in an accident or arrested. The scammer may ask the grandparent “please don’t let mom and dad know,” and may hand the phone over to someone posing as a lawyer seeking immediate payment.

Unfortunately, bad actors can now use artificial intelligence technology “to mimic voices, convincing people, often the elderly, that their loved ones are in distress,” according to a recent Washington Post article. The article reports that scammers can replicate a voice from just a short audio sample, then use AI tools to hold a conversation in that voice, which “speaks” whatever the imposter types. Several variations of the grandparent scam have surfaced over the years. A U.S. Postal Inspection Service webpage about grandparent scams (see https://www.uspis.gov/news/scam-article/ grandparent-scams) includes videos of victims sharing their stories to help raise awareness of this criminal tactic.