Scammers are using it to Bilk Victims of Millions: Here’s how to defend

This has no way to continue with my grandmother.

Cruel scammers are deceiving the elderly by millions of dollars with a new high -tech trick he uses to find their grandchildren’s voices and then use sounds to make phonetic phone calls designed to deceive the elderly, police officers at Long Island announced Friday.

Fraud involves criminals to find a vulnerable and elderly person with grandchildren – then cleaning social media sites as Tiktok for video of young people talking.

They then use sound cloning software and broken phone numbers to call panic claiming they are grandchildren, claiming they have been arrested or injured and urgently need condition or medical funds.

“They are always trying to stay a step forward,” Suffolk District Police Commissioner Kevin Catalina told Friday.

Catalina confirmed that the department has seen an increasing number of these cases, and said software criminals are using can perfectly imitate someone else’s voice – often deceiving the tangible and elderly population of the area.

“It is often sometimes a nephew scheme we are seeing, where the individual will call and mean that they are in some kind of trouble asking for money,” Catalina said.

Police said the victims have been deceived in strengthening thousands of dollars in cash transfers and wires – thinking they are saving a loved one when they are actually being deceived by a synthetic voice and a criminal on the other side of the line.

Catalina said the department has seen an increase in these types of fraud in recent months and warned the public to remain alert, especially when receiving emotional prayers involving money and secrecy.

He advised families to create a “safe word” in the event of emergencies and approach the person they claim to be after receiving the call to confirm directly before transferring money.

As for the fraudsters, Catalina warned that the department is making these crimes a high advantage given the large amount of cases.

“If we find the individuals who do this, who know exactly who they are stealing, we will prosecute you to the maximum – these crimes are an advantage for us and we will make sure we get to the end of this,” Catalina said.

In 2023, over 3,000 frauds were reported in Long Island – resulting in over $ 126 million stolen from mostly elderly citizens, according to the latest AARP data.

Nearly $ 74 million was stolen from Nassau, and nearly $ 54 million were only received in Suffolk that year.

And Catalina warned that it would deteriorate only after it continues to progress.

“They are becoming increasingly sophisticated, so everyone has to be very careful,” he said.