Purported AI-Generated Voice Reportedly Impersonated Washington Man's Daughter in $13,000 Extortion Scam
A man in Washington state, Mark A. Young, reportedly wired $13,000 after scammers used a purportedly AI-generated copy of his daughter's voice to convince him she had been kidnapped after a staged car-crash story. The caller allegedly kept him on the phone for about 30 hours, directed him to banks and money-transfer locations, and sought another $17,000 before a Pullman bank manager and police confirmed his daughter was safe.
- Date it happened
- 2026-03-23
- Organisation involved
- Scammers
- Product, system or model
- Wire transfer services, Vishing infrastructure, Deepfake technology developers, Synthetic audio generation technology developers
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