What are the red flags of this scam?

The voice sounds like a family member but the caller refuses a video call, citing a broken phone or poor signal • Extreme urgency: you must send money immediately or something terrible will happen • The caller insists you not tell other family members until the money is sent • Calling the family member back on their known number reveals they are safe and never called

What should I do if this happened to me?

Hang up and immediately call the family member back on their known number to verify • Agree on a secret family code word that only genuine members know, to use in real emergencies • Never transfer money via UPI based solely on a phone call, no matter how real the voice sounds • Report at https://cybercrime.gov.in or call 1930 (national cyber helpline).

HIGH phishing Share

AI clones a family member's voice and calls you with a fake emergency

Scammers use AI to clone a relative's voice from social media clips, then call pretending to be in a crisis—accident, arrest, or hospital—and demand an urgent UPI transfer. The voice sounds genuine.

Also known as: voice cloning scam, deepfake phone call, AI family emergency fraud, vishing AI

Already happened to you? Do this in the next few minutes

Call 1930 now

1 Call 1930 — the national cyber-crime helpline — right now. The sooner you report, the better the chance of freezing the money before it moves.
2 Call your bank to freeze the account and block the card immediately. Use the number printed on your card, never a number from the message or caller.
3 File a report at cybercrime.gov.in and keep every message, screenshot, and transaction ID.

What to do right now

1 Hang up and immediately call the family member back on their known number to verify
2 Agree on a secret family code word that only genuine members know, to use in real emergencies
3 Never transfer money via UPI based solely on a phone call, no matter how real the voice sounds
4 Report at https://cybercrime.gov.in or call 1930 (national cyber helpline).

Red flags

⚠ The voice sounds like a family member but the caller refuses a video call, citing a broken phone or poor signal
⚠ Extreme urgency: you must send money immediately or something terrible will happen
⚠ The caller insists you not tell other family members until the money is sent
⚠ Calling the family member back on their known number reveals they are safe and never called

Known variants

Deepfake CEO BEC: employee receives a video/voice call cloned from the CEO asking for urgent wire transfer. Mumbai CFO authorised ₹2.3 crore via deepfake call. Over 2,300 cases in India in Q4 2025 alone, up 450%; face and voice cloned from LinkedIn videos and earnings calls.

Last seen: 5/21/2026

Already happened to you? Do this in the next few minutes

What to do right now

Red flags

Known variants

Sources