The call sounds exactly like your daughter. She's crying, there's been an accident, and she needs money wired right now. Except it isn't her. It's a few seconds of her voice, scraped from social media and fed into an AI cloning tool.

Scams like that now have their own line in the FBI's books. The bureau's 2025 Internet Crime Report, released in April, logged 22,364 complaints involving artificial intelligence and nearly $893 million in reported losses. According to security firm Allure Security, it's the first time the FBI has tracked AI as a separate category.

The bigger picture

AI is a slice of a much larger problem. The FBI said Americans filed 1,008,597 complaints in 2025, reporting nearly $21 billion in losses. People over 60 reported $7.7 billion in losses, up 37% from 2024.

Those are reported losses only. Many victims never file a complaint, and many AI-assisted scams aren't labeled as AI at all, so the true figure is almost certainly higher.

Why AI makes old scams work better

Most of these schemes aren't new. Fake bank calls, "grandchild in trouble" calls and phony investment pitches have been around for years. AI just removes the tells: no broken English, no robotic voice, no blurry fake ID. A cloned voice or a convincing video call defeats the instinct most of us rely on, which is "I'd know if it was fake."

Five habits that shut AI scams down

None of these require new software. They work because they don't depend on spotting the fake.

1. Set a family safe word. The FBI recommends creating a secret word or phrase with family members to confirm who you're talking to. If a "relative" calls in a panic asking for money, ask for it. A cloned voice won't know it.

2. Hang up and call back. If your "bank," a "government agency" or a "family member" calls asking for money or information, end the call and dial a number you already trust, like the one on the back of your card or saved in your contacts. Never use a number the caller gives you.

3. Treat urgency as the red flag. The FBI's advice is to "Take a Beat" and resist pressure to act quickly. Real banks and real emergencies can wait the five minutes it takes to verify.

4. Shrink your voice and video footprint. Cloning tools need samples. Making social media accounts private and limiting public videos of yourself and your family makes you a harder target, the FBI notes.

5. Know the payment methods scammers want. Requests to pay by gift card, wire transfer, cryptocurrency or a payment app to someone you don't know are almost always a scam. These payments are fast and hard to reverse, which is exactly why fraudsters ask for them.

Turn on your bank's alerts

One free tool most people already have: real-time transaction alerts in your bank or card app. Set them to notify you of every transaction, or anything over a small amount. Many banks also use AI on their side to flag unusual activity, and an alert gives you the chance to call them while there's still time to stop a transfer.

Why it matters

As AI makes fakes cheaper and more convincing, "I'd know if it was fake" stops being a defense. Process beats instinct: a safe word, a callback and a pause work no matter how good the fake gets.

If it happens to you

Call your bank immediately using the number on your card, then file a report at ic3.gov. Speed matters for any chance of recovering money.

Sources: FBI 2025 Internet Crime Report · FBI press release · FBI deepfake alert · Allure Security

Beyond the Bank is for informational purposes only and is not financial, legal, or investment advice.

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