By 3 min readJune 3, 2026 – 11:51AMAFP
Publication Date: 2026-06-03 01:51:00
Liz Benz still believes the frantic caller’s voice was her son’s – the tone, pronunciation and rhythm all matched her 16-year-old.
But it was an AI clone, making the American mother another victim in a growing wave of identity theft scams.
Rapidly evolving artificial intelligence technology has erased the boundaries between reality and fiction, giving cybercriminals stunningly convincing voice cloning tools to steal from people by impersonating loved ones.
Benz, who lives in Buffalo, was jolted from her sofa by a call from an unknown number. There was someone on the line who sounded like her son Fred, screaming for help.
She was told Fred’s friend had been shot and her son – who was away at a local football match – was being held hostage.
The 46-year-old insurance broker and mother of six was ordered to deliver cash to a nearby Walmart to pay off the man who held her.
Finally, a selfie of Fred smiling at the game brought her back to reality: The call, she realized, was a…
