FTC and FCC Recommend Safe Words and Callback Checks to Beat AI Voice Scams

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Voice-cloning technology has advanced to the point where federal agencies warn that fake audio can be indistinguishable from a real person's voice, requiring only a short public clip to generate. The most common scheme, tracked by both the FTC and FCC, involves a caller impersonating a distressed family member and demanding untraceable payments while urging secrecy. The FBI has linked hundreds of millions of dollars in losses to AI-driven impostor scams of this kind. The FCC recommends that families agree on a private safe word in advance, while the FTC advises hanging up and calling the person back on a known, saved number. Both measures sidestep the need to detect cloned audio and are designed to neutralize the urgency and secrecy tactics that make these scams effective.

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