When the voice on the phone isn't real

Artificial intelligence has quietly become one of the biggest tools in a scammer's kit. It is no longer just about clumsy emails full of spelling mistakes. Scammers can now clone a real person's voice from a few seconds of audio, generate convincing fake video of celebrities or business figures, and write personalised messages that reference your name, your bank and your recent activity.

The scale of the problem is significant. Australians lost $2.18 billion to scams in 2025, with more than 480,000 scams reported to watchdogs, and regulators point to AI as a major reason scams have become harder to spot (National Anti-Scam Centre, 2026). ASIC took down almost 12,000 phishing and investment scam websites in 2025 alone, a 90 per cent jump on the year before, much of it driven by AI-generated content flooding social media.

One of the most distressing versions is the "family emergency" scam. A phone rings, and the voice on the other end sounds exactly like a daughter or grandson, crying, saying they are in trouble and need money urgently. The voice has been cloned from a video posted online. Research from the Australian Institute of Criminology found that half of Australian adults now fear being targeted by AI-enabled crime, and one in five expect to become a victim within the next year.

The tricky part is that confidence does not equal ability. A Commonwealth Bank study found that while 89 per cent of Australians felt sure they could pick an AI-generated scam, people were only accurate 42 per cent of the time, worse than a random guess. Age made little difference. This is not about being technologically behind, the fakes have simply become that convincing.

The good news is that the basic defences still work. If a call, text or video asks you to act urgently, especially involving money, hang up and contact the person directly using a number you already have saved, not one provided in the message. Agree on a family code word that a scammer could never know, to be used if someone claims to be in trouble. Be cautious about what personal detail, voice clips or videos of yourself and your family end up publicly online, since this is exactly the raw material scammers use. And remember that real banks, government agencies and family members will never pressure you to act instantly or pay via gift cards or cryptocurrency.

If you believe you have been targeted, report it to Scamwatch and share this article with friends, family and colleagues.