# Recognize the voice. Verify the person.

Have a plan for urgent calls asking for money.

By Avenvale · Sources checked 2026-09-23
Canonical: https://avenvale.app/training/scams/ai-impersonation
Language: English

AI can imitate a familiar voice. A caller who knows personal details may still be pretending. Verification works better than trying to hear whether a voice is fake.

## Try this

1. Pause before sending money, even if the caller sounds distressed or asks for secrecy.
2. Call your loved one back on a number you already know. Do not use a replacement number the caller gives you.
3. If you cannot reach them, check with another trusted person before paying.

## Practice scenario (fictional)

Someone sounds like your sibling and needs an urgent transfer. What comes first?

1. Send money because the voice matches
2. Call your sibling through their saved contact

Safer response: Call your sibling through their saved contact

A familiar voice is not enough. Checking through an independent channel helps confirm who is really asking. If money was sent, contact the payment provider promptly.

Lesson completion records practice, not a scan or certification.

## Official guidance

- [FTC · Fake family emergencies](https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/scammers-use-fake-emergencies-steal-your-money)