The AI Voice Clone Family Emergency Scam: The Voice Was the Last Thing They Had to Fake
The FTC documented this call in 2018, before voice cloning. A federal indictment describes the scripts, the couriers and the gag order — and never mentions AI.
How each scam actually works
Each page here takes one lure and follows it end to end — the opening message, the pressure, the payment, and where the money goes. Every figure names its source, and each page links to the identifiers people actually reported for that lure.
All breakdowns
- Family emergency
- Home service
The Air Duct Cleaning Scam: The Problem Was Never There
The EPA says duct cleaning has never been shown to prevent health problems, and does not certify anyone. One sentence makes them show you what they found.
- Forced-labour fraud
Cambodia's Scam Compounds: The Ledger That Named the Floors
Prosecutors say the man who ran Cambodia's scam compounds kept a ledger recording which floor ran which fraud, filed by the victim's nationality.
- Celebrity giveaway or endorsement
Celebrity Crypto Giveaway Deepfake: How It Works
A verified channel, a famous face and an offer to double your crypto. How the celebrity giveaway deepfake works, with FBI, NYDFS, Google and NYT figures.
- Bank impersonation
The Fake Bank Fraud Alert: The Charge Was Never Real
The text asks you to reply YES or NO. Replying is not the mistake — the call ninety seconds later is. The FTC says you probably won't get it back.
- Fake tech support or virus alert
Fake Microsoft Security Alert: The Phone Number Is the Scam
A full-screen Microsoft security alert with a phone number is an advertisement, not a warning. Microsoft says its error messages never include a number.
- Free prize or giveaway
Free Prize Scam: Why 'Just Pay Shipping' Is the Scam
Why strangers give away a free PS5 or iPhone and then ask you to cover shipping. The advance-fee prize scam explained, with FTC, FBI and BBB figures.
- Offshore shell company
One Hundred and Seventeen Companies That Do Nothing
Scam networks hide money in companies that do nothing. The US Treasury counted 117 of them in one network, most offshore shells with no real activity.
- Scripted chat
How Scammers Chose Their Targets: The Instructions in the Filing
Victims were not chosen, they were allocated. Prosecutors allege the accounts were bought in bulk years earlier and the rooms assigned by nationality.
- Crypto investment
Sixty-One Million Dollars, From One Phone Call
One report to a federal tip line ended with $61 million in Tether frozen. Who holds the switch that stops stolen crypto, and what freezing does not do.
- Investment or crypto trading fraud
Pig Butchering Scam: How the Wrong-Number Text Works
How the pig butchering scam turns a wrong-number text into a crypto account you can never withdraw from, with FBI, DOJ, Chainalysis and UN figures.
- Sadness bait
The Sob Story Scam: The Sadness Is the Advertisement
A stranger's tragedy attached to a checkout button. The face belongs to an 84-year-old tailor who never agreed to be in it, and his wife is not sick.
- Virtual kidnapping
Virtual Kidnapping: The Ransom Call Where Nobody Has Been Taken
The FBI says virtual kidnappers have not kidnapped anyone. The screaming is usually a recording, and the caller gets the name from you. One question ends it.