The secret codewords that scammers hate

A wave of AI deepfake scams is designed to make victims doubt what they hear and see, with fraudsters using voice-cloning to pressure families in moments of panic. Elizabeth Benz of Buffalo, New York, says she received a call in September 2025 claiming her 16-year-old son’s friend had been murdered and that she had to deliver $7,500 (£5,570) to the caller at a Walmart parking lot. Her son’s brother interrupted the situation and confirmed it was an AI impersonation, not her family member. Experts and victims say a simple crisis codeword—something easy to remember and hard to guess—can prevent falling for these tactics. Americans lost an estimated $148.2bn (£110.1bn) to online scams and crimes in 2025.