A Poway man says a scammer used a near-perfect copy of his daughter's voice to clean out the family's life savings. Glen Givens told reporters it all started last Monday, when someone called the house claiming to be law enforcement and then put a woman on the line who sounded exactly like his daughter. In a panic, he and his wife pulled $18,000 in cash from the bank and, following instructions, handed it to a courier in a CVS parking lot, Givens says. He has since launched an online fundraiser and is warning neighbors to slow down and double-check any sudden emergency calls before sending money.
Givens spoke with Fox 5 San Diego, explaining that the caller claimed there was an arrest warrant and pushed the couple to act immediately. He told the station he believes the woman's voice was generated with artificial intelligence and that the scammers leaned hard on fear and urgency to shut down his questions. The family says they are sharing their story in hopes that someone else will hang up before making the same mistake.
How This Scam Worked
Experts say schemes like this usually mix publicly available personal details, spoofed caller ID and synthetic audio to stage a convincing emergency. CBS News has reported that scammers can build a believable voice clone from just a few seconds of audio, then script a high-pressure situation to push a quick payment. That blend of tech tricks and emotional manipulation is why even cautious people sometimes get taken in.
The scale of the problem has grown across the country. The FBI broke out AI-related incidents separately in its 2025 Internet Crime Report and logged 22,364 complaints with adjusted losses of about $893 million. The FBI says artificial intelligence tools are increasingly used to impersonate relatives and trusted contacts. Local reporting shows similar cases around San Diego County, with NBC San Diego recently covering a retiree who lost six figures to an investment scam, underscoring how widespread and expensive these schemes have become.
What Victims Can Do
Authorities advise hanging up, taking a breath and calling the family member back on a number you already know before sending any money. Any demand for immediate payment should be treated as a major red flag. Officials also warn people not to hand cash to a courier or follow instructions to buy gift cards or move money into cryptocurrency. If you or someone you know has been targeted, they recommend filing a report with the IC3 complaint portal and the FTC; both sites outline how investigators track and respond to these crimes. Givens says the lesson from his ordeal is painfully simple: even when a voice sounds exactly like family, take an extra moment to confirm before you act.
