# A voice or a video can be faked. Check by calling back. Knowing what to look for · 05 · 8 min read A cloned voice can sound convincing enough that sound alone is not a reliable check. Use a separate channel to reach the person or organization before sending money or sharing a code. This page helps you: - Understand why a familiar voice or face is not proof - Use one habit to check before you pay or share a code These scams tend to sound alike: someone you know, in a sudden bind, needing money or a code before there is time to think it through. Voice cloning makes the familiar sound less useful as proof of who is calling. The engine underneath has not changed. It still runs on urgency, and you can interrupt that pressure by ending the call and checking another way. Synthetic video can place a familiar face on a call, and generated text can imitate someone’s writing. Trying to keep a mental list of visual defects will age badly. The request and the route used to verify it matter more than the pixels. **What changed, and what did not** The engine underneath: unchanged, and where the check works - Someone you know, in a sudden bind - A request for money, a login, or a code - Urgency, before there is time to think it through What can now be imitated - A familiar voice on the phone - A familiar face on a video call - Someone’s writing, or a company’s formal tone ## The reliable check Reach the person, not a verdict about the recording. A cloned voice can be convincing, and sound alone may not tell you who is calling. Reach the person yourself on a number you already trust, rather than the number that called. ## A familiar face on a video call is no longer enough A video call bundles several cues people normally trust: a face, a voice, and the names of people who belong in the meeting. Synthetic media can imitate some of those cues, while a compromised account or a real participant may supply the rest. A familiar face does not authenticate a payment instruction. **Follow the request, not the pixels** 1. The ask · The call asks you to move money or share a code. 2. Leave · Leave the call. 3. Reach them · Reach the person through a route you already trust. 4. If unreachable · Contact someone else who would know whether the story makes sense. Visual oddities are a poor foundation for a decision. Compression, weak connections, and ordinary camera effects can make a real call look strange, while synthetic media keeps improving. Follow the request instead. ## When the message reads perfectly Polished grammar no longer separates a genuine message from a fake one. Misspellings can still be clues, but their absence means little. Generated text can imitate a person’s favorite phrases or a company’s formal tone. Read past the style to the requested action. Money, a login, or a one-time code sent under a deadline needs an independent check, however natural the message sounds. ## Hang up. Look up. Call back. Calling back does more than create a pause. It moves the conversation onto contact details the caller did not choose. - **01 · Hang up:** The rush is the whole tactic. Ending the call costs nothing, and it lets the pressure drop. - **02 · Look up:** Find the person, or the bank’s real number, yourself: from your own contacts or the back of your card. Never the number they gave you. - **03 · Call back:** Reach them on that number. Calling back gives you a separate channel for checking the request before you act. If you can, use a different phone or wait a few minutes, since on some landlines the caller can keep the line open after you hang up. ## Practice the moment you hang up Fictional call · nothing to enter The voice on this fictional call sounds like Leon, someone you would rush to help. Hear it one line at a time. You can hang up at any point, and the line you stop at shows what it was doing. **Leon’s voice** “It’s me. I’m okay, but I’m in trouble, and I need you not to panic.” > Call ended · the line you stopped at: A familiar voice and a sudden alarm. The voice does the > introducing, so the question of who is calling never gets asked. A cloned voice can sound like > this, and the alarm arrives before there is time to wonder. **Leon’s voice** “I was in a car accident. My phone is broken, so I’m calling from the lawyer’s phone.” > Call ended · the line you stopped at: A reason the usual number will not work. The story explains > in advance why the call comes from an unfamiliar number and why calling Leon’s own phone would > fail. Calling his own number is exactly the check that would settle it. **A second voice** “I’m representing Leon. He can go home today if bail is paid within the hour.” > Call ended · the line you stopped at: Borrowed authority and a deadline. A professional title > makes the request sound official, and the one-hour window discourages the calls that would check > it. A genuine process would still be there after you hang up and call back. **Leon’s voice** “Please don’t tell Mom and Dad. I’m so embarrassed.” > Call ended · the line you stopped at: Secrecy. Asking you to keep it quiet cuts you off from the > people who could confirm where Leon is. A request for secrecy is a reason to widen the circle. **A second voice** “Stay on the line. I’ll read you the payment details, or you can read me the code we just sent to your phone.” > Call ended · the line you stopped at: The request: money or a code. This is what the whole call > was built to reach. Staying on the line keeps you from checking, and a code sent to your phone can > open one of your own accounts. This is the request: money or a code. It is the moment to hang up and check, however real the voice sounds. **What to do next** 1. Look up Leon’s number in your own contacts and call him. Do not call back the number that called you. 2. If he does not answer, contact someone who would know where he is. 3. If you can, call from a different phone, or wait a few minutes first. On some landlines the caller can keep the line open after you hang up. 4. If the caller said someone is in danger, contact local emergency services as well as trying to reach the person yourself. ## Make verification ordinary at home 1. Agree on a safe word with the people you would rush to help, in a private conversation, and keep it unrelated to names, dates, places, or pets that others could learn. Rehearse asking for it once. The rehearsal matters more than making the word clever. 2. Settle one household rule in advance: no one sends money or codes based on a call alone. First reach the person on a number you already had. 3. The same move works for a bank or company that calls you. Hang up and use the number printed on the back of your card or statement, not one the caller gives you. If you can, call from a different phone or wait a few minutes first, since some landlines can stay connected to the caller after you hang up. 4. A safe word is a backup, not proof. If a caller knows it, still use a separate channel before sending money, sharing a code, or changing an account. 5. If you cannot reach the person who supposedly called, contact someone else who knows where they are. The original caller’s insistence on secrecy is a reason to widen the circle, not stay inside the call. If a caller says someone is in danger, contact local emergency services as well as trying to reach the person yourself. Reviewed July 2026. Official context: [FBI guidance on voice and video cloning](https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/sanfrancisco/news/fbi-warns-of-increasing-threat-of-cyber-criminals-utilizing-artificial-intelligence) and [FBI virtual-kidnapping guidance](https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/chicago/news/press-releases/fbi-chicago-warns-public-about-virtual-kidnapping-scams). --- _Part of Identity Explained (by Persona). https://explained.withpersona.com/your-identity-online/ai-scams_