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WARNING: AI Voice Cloning and Virtual Kidnappings

A call from someone you love in crisis is terrifying enough - but what if the voice begging for help isn’t really them? We break down how AI voice cloning is fueling virtual kidnapping scams, why panic is the weapon scammers count on, and the one conversation your family should have before the phone rings.
Duration
24m
Broadcast on
03 Jun 2026
Audio Format
other

A call from someone you love in crisis is terrifying enough - but what if the voice begging for help isn’t really them? We break down how AI voice cloning is fueling virtual kidnapping scams, why panic is the weapon scammers count on, and the one conversation your family should have before the phone rings.

  • If this happens to you, report it right away: if money changed hands, contact your local FBI field office or call 1-800-CALL-FBI; even if you didn’t lose money, file a report at IC3.gov

 

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Crime Junkie is hosted by Ashley Flowers and Brit Prawat. 

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Hi, crime junkies, I'm your host, Ashley Flowers, and the story I have for you today is one that I want you to listen to every single second up. Because by the time it's over, you're going to want to call every person you love and do one simple thing that could save you from one of the most terrifying experiences imaginable. This is about something that's happening right now to real people, and as technology gets more advanced, so do the criminals looking to exploit it. Lots of people have no idea that this is even possible, and the real unsettling part? How cheap and accessible the tools to do this actually are, and how fast they're evolving. This is the story about how hearing the voice of someone you love could be the beginning of a nightmare, and what you can do to fight back. Jennifer DeStefano is one of those moms who's always on the move. She and her husband have four kids in close age. And most weekends, that means splitting up just to keep up. So on this particular late Friday afternoon, January 20th, 2023, while Jennifer is in Scottsdale, Arizona, swinging by their 13 year old daughter's dance studio to pick her up after a lesson, her husband is about 150 miles north in the mountains with their youngest son and their 15 year old daughter Brianna, so she can do some training for ski races. Now Jennifer is getting out of her car in the studio parking lot when her phone rings. It's an unknown number, and she almost lets it go to voicemail, but unknown calls can be from hospitals. And with Brianna on a mountain, it's too risky to ignore it, so she picks up. And it is Brianna on the line, but she's crying, barely holding it together. And she tells Jennifer, "Mom, I messed up." Now Jennifer doesn't panic, she's thinking that maybe Brianna got hurt skiing, so she's like, "You know, it's okay, Bri, calm down, what's going on, what's wrong?" And then she hears a man's voice cut in, telling Brianna to lay down and put her head back. And then suddenly she hears her daughter cry out, "Mom, these bad men have me, help me, help me." And then the man fully takes the phone and he tells Jennifer that he has her daughter, and if she calls the police or breathes a word of this to anyone, they will never see her again, because he is going to drug her, sexually assault her, and leave her for dead in Mexico. She can barely hear what he's saying because all she can focus on is her daughter in the background yelling and pleading until her voice goes muffled like she's being pulled away from the phone. Jennifer is shaking as she pushes through the dance studio doors. Now she keeps the man on speakerphone but mutes herself so he can't hear her, and she screams for help, and other moms gather fast. One rushes outside to call 911 while the rest surround Jennifer and listen as the caller makes threat after horrifying threat, and Jennifer begs to speak to her daughter again. But the man won't put her back on the phone, he's doing all of the talking now. And what he wants in exchange for Brianna's life is staggering, one million dollars. Jennifer is willing to agree to anything right now, but once she starts questioning how she's supposed to get him all that money, the guy starts doing the math in his head and he decides on his own that there's no way she's going to be able to come up with that much money because he wants cash only and he's not going to give her time to get it together. So he makes this quick decision to give her a discount, he'll take $50,000 instead. And he's adamant he's not willing to mess with wire transfers or routing numbers. All that stuff is way too traceable.

Transcription truncated.

A call from someone you love in crisis is terrifying enough - but what if the voice begging for help isn’t really them? We break down how AI voice cloning is fueling virtual kidnapping scams, why panic is the weapon scammers count on, and the one conversation your family should have before the phone rings.