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MEMPHIS, Tenn. —The Crockett County Sheriff’s Department is warning residents about a new phone scam where criminals use AI-generated voice clones to swindle people out of money.

Sheriff Troy Klyce said the scammers have found a way to copy the voice of a loved one and pretend to be in trouble to get the victim to hand over financial information or money. He said Thursday, a local man got a call from a woman who said she was his granddaughter and she had been in a car accident.

“They told him they had run off in a ditch, and they needed some money quick, like $500 or something like that,” said Sheriff Klyce. “He said what got him was it sounded identical to his granddaughter, but he was smart enough to keep asking questions, and finally, she couldn’t answer the questions anymore, and she hung up.”

The Federal Trade Commission has been warning the public for months about the high-tech family emergency scam calls. 

The FTC said all scammers need is a short audio clip of your family member’s voice, which he could get from content posted online, and a voice-cloning program. When the scammer calls you, he will sound just like your loved one.

The Crockett County Sheriff’s Department PIO Stephen Sutton said it’s not hard to find free AI voice cloning tools online.

“I just googled voice cloning, and there was plenty of material about it,” said Sutton.

Sheriff Klyce doesn’t want residents to fall for the realistic-sounding phone calls.

Klyce said if you don’t trust the voice on the other end, hang up and call the person who supposedly contacted you. He said never give anyone your financial or personal information over the phone.

“It’s going to get worse because we’ve been having trouble with that kind of scam anyway. You know, they call and say they are in jail or they need bond money, and it wasn’t even as realistic as this is,” said Sheriff Klyce.

The FTC said in 2022, imposter scams cost victims $2.6 billion, up from $2.4 billion in 2021. If you think you have been a victim of a phone scam, contact your law enforcement agency. You can also report a scam to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.