SHERIFF CARMINE MARCENO’S NOVEMBER 2025 FRAUD ALERT: DON’T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU HEAR

Imagine receiving a call and hearing the voice of a friend or family member. They start asking for personal information or they need help and money. This is a weird request, but you hear their voice, so you comply… Now you’ve become a victim of a voice scam.

Scammers rely on you trusting the recognized voice and providing the requested information. It’s natural for people to believe the content of a call when they hear their loved ones asking for information, help, or money.

Voice cloning analyzes audio clips of someone speaking and replicates the voice through Artificial Intelligence (AI). Depending on the program, it can copy someone’s voice using as little as a few seconds of recorded audio.

Think of how many videos are posted online, especially by younger generations. A scammer could easily pull audio off their social media and use it to clone someone’s voice.

Some preventative measures include:

Have a password with your loved ones. Confirm that the caller knows the password. If they don’t, do not share any information.

Call, text, or try to contact the person whose voice you’re hearing. They may respond and confirm that it wasn’t them.

Don’t trust caller ID. Scammers can spoof numbers to make a call look legitimate. If something feels off, trust your intuition. Hang up and redial your loved one’s number directly.

Do not stay on the phone with scammers. Hang up! They may be recording your voice and could use it for voice cloning.

If you do not recognize the phone number, let it go to voicemail. If they do not leave a voicemail message, ignore it.

Pause and think clearly. Scammers try to create panic and urgency to make you act quickly. Take a breath, slow down, and don’t let them pressure you into action.

Report suspicious activity to Lee County Sheriff’s Office (239-477-1000) or to your local law enforcement agency.

Did you know the Lee County Sheriff’s Office provides over a dozen free crime prevention programs? These sessions cover practical tips to help keep you and your community safe. If you’d like to schedule one for your neighborhood, business, church, or organization, just give us a call at (239) 477-1CRU (1278) or send an email to CRU@sheriffleefl.org.