A California mother, Deborah Del Mastro, endured a five-and-a-half-hour ordeal after scammers used artificial intelligence to clone her daughter's voice and stage a fake kidnapping.The incident began one morning in May when Del Mastro received a call from an unknown number. The caller claimed her 37-year-old daughter had been kidnapped by a Mexican drug cartel and played a recording that sounded exactly like her daughter in distress.

The scammer demanded $20,000, but Del Mastro, panicked by the convincing AI-generated voice, negotiated and wired $5,400 in multiple transactions to Mexico, following the caller's instructions to avoid alerting anyone. All the while, the scammer kept her on the phone, issuing urgent commands and creating a sense of immediate danger.

Only after the ordeal ended and Del Mastro called her daughter directly did she discover her daughter was safe at work. Del Mastro told Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson, "It was her voice. It was absolutely her voice," describing how the scammer exploited her familiarity with her daughter's panic attacks for greater believability.

The incident highlights a growing trend of AI-enabled voice scams that authorities say are becoming increasingly sophisticated and difficult to detect. Erin West, a prosecutor with Operation Shamrock, told KGO, "What they can do with just a few seconds of your voice, they can clone it. And they can essentially produce sound that sounds exactly like you." She urged families to create code words and verify emergencies before sending money.

At a recent U.S. Senate hearing on AI-enabled fraud, Del Mastro recounted her story, saying she remains "completely traumatized" months later. Experts there warned that generative AI is making scams more convincing and projected U.S. losses from AI-driven fraud could reach $40 billion by 2027.

Martinez police are investigating the case, though Del Mastro does not expect to recover her stolen funds. In response, her family now shares locations on their phones and uses code words to help prevent future scams. Law enforcement and consumer advocates recommend the public stay alert to urgent requests for money, verify with loved ones directly, and set up family safeguards.

Dana Tyson