By Tom Latek
Kentucky Today
The latest Scam-o-Meter update from Coveron, an identity theft and scam protection service, warns the classic grandparent scam has entered a new phase.
Criminals can now clone a loved one’s voice and place a call that sounds exactly like a grandchild begging for bail money, and the tools to do it are cheap, easy to find, and increasingly sold as ready-to-use fraud products.
Recent data from NordVPN research, based on an analysis of dark web forums and Telegram channels using NordLayer Intelligence by NordStellar, found that commercial voice-cloning listings grew 7.4 times between January-July 2024 and January-July 2026. Posts advertising voice-cloning services, tools, and pricing rose 82% in 2025, then a further 75% in the first seven months of 2026 alone. Posts describing specific fraud use-cases, including family-emergency scams, are projected to triple from 2025 to 2026.
The cost of entry is shockingly low. According to NordVPN’s findings, a Telegram bot that calls victims and steals banking one-time codes starts at about $30 a week, AI-voice robocalls cost $200 per 1,000 calls, and a cracked account for a legitimate voice-cloning service with unlimited cloning sells for $150. Much of what is sold is not purpose-built criminal software but stolen access to legitimate commercial tools, resold for as little as $8.
The scam is relatively simple: a criminal scrapes a short audio clip of a family member’s voice from social media, feeds it into a cloning tool, and calls an elderly relative claiming to be in trouble. The story usually involves an arrest, an accident, or an urgent bill, always paired with pressure to act fast and keep the call secret. Because the voice sounds real, the usual instinct to verify gets bypassed entirely.
In a recent case reported by Fortune, a mother followed a caller’s instructions for five hours and wired $5,400, never doubting that the terrified voice on the line was her daughter’s. It was a clone.
To protect yourself and your family, Tomas Sinicki, managing director at Coveron, recommends agreeing on a code word with family members and asking for it on any urgent call involving money, hanging up and calling back on a number you already have, and treating urgency and secrecy as the real warning signs, not the voice itself. Attackers rely on pressure, not perfect audio.