Wichita mother nearly duped by AI voice cloning scam

WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) - A Wichita mother nearly lost thousands of dollars after scammers used AI to clone her son’s voice.

Florence Wheeler thought she was talking to her son, John, when she received a call saying he had been in an accident and needed $25,000 for bail.

“He said, ‘Mom, I’ve been in an accident... Somebody is in critical condition, and there’s been a six-month-old child that’s been killed,’” Wheeler recounted.

Wheeler said she had a feeling it was a scam, but hearing her son’s voice made her ignore all red flags. The call immediately caused her to panic.

But it wasn’t her son at all. Using AI voice cloning technology, a scammer used John’s voice to convince Wheeler that her son was in trouble.

Wheeler said she tried to her son’s wife but, desperate to help, rushed to the bank to withdraw the money.

It wasn’t until Wheeler was sitting in her bank’s parking lot that she received a call back from her daughter-in-law, who assured her that everything was fine and that the call was a scam.

“She called me back and said he’s at the office, you don’t need to worry about it, that’s a scam,” Wheeler said.

But how real can these scams sound? As AI technology evolves, voice cloning has become increasingly sophisticated. In fact, we used AI to help report this story, and the difference between a real voice and a cloned one can be nearly indistinguishable.

Journalism professor Al Tompkins explains that two years ago, cloning someone’s voice required a 30-minute sample, but now, just 10-15 seconds of audio is enough to create an eerily realistic voice.

“It’s getting increasingly difficult to tell one from the other,” Tompkins said.

Situations like Wheeler’s are growing more common as scammers exploit social media to access personal videos and information.

Tompkins warns that technology often advances faster than our ability to use it responsibly, with scammers exploiting new tools more quickly than ethical uses can be found.

Florence didn’t lose any money, but she said she’s now afraid to answer any phone calls.

To protect yourself, FactFinder recommends:

• Never make big decisions when you’re emotional.
• If money’s involved, slow down and reassess.
• Set up a family code word for emergencies.

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