When Jennifer DeStefano’s phone rang with a call from an unknown number, she nearly didn’t pick up. But the Arizona mom’s 15-year-old daughter, Briana, was away on a ski trip, so she decided to answer it just in case.
What DeStefano heard on the other line sent her into a full-blown panic. Briana sobbed and pleaded for help—then a man came on the line and asked for $1 million in ransom for Briana’s release.
Yet within minutes of the January 2023 call, DeStefano confirmed that Briana was, in fact, perfectly safe. DeStefano had been the victim of an artificial intelligence (A.I.) kidnapping scam. Using a short voice audio clip likely pulled from Briana’s social media and with the help of A.I. software, scammers had cloned Briana’s voice to try to trick her family into believing it was her.
Jennifer DeStefano’s 15-year-old daughter, Briana, was away on a ski trip. Her phone rang with a call from an unknown number. The Arizona mom almost didn’t answer the call. But she decided to pick it up just in case.
What DeStefano heard on the other line made her panic. Briana cried and begged for help. Then a man came on the phone and asked for $1 million to release Briana.
DeStefano was able to confirm that Briana was safe within minutes of the January 2023 call. She had been the victim of an artificial intelligence (A.I.) kidnapping scam. The scammers used a short voice audio clip likely pulled from Briana’s social media and A.I. software to clone her voice. Then they tried to trick her family into believing it was her.