Scammers used AI voice cloning technology to impersonate children's voices in fake kidnapping calls to extort ransom money from parents in the Peekskill School District.
In January 2025, the Peekskill Central School District in Westchester County, New York warned families about a sophisticated scam targeting parents. At least two families received calls from strangers claiming to have kidnapped their children and demanding ransom payments. The scammers used artificial intelligence technology to clone and replicate the voices of the children, making the threats appear more credible and realistic. This represents a new evolution of traditional virtual kidnapping scams, where criminals use AI-generated audio to create convincing voice samples that sound like the alleged victims in distress. The FBI had previously issued nationwide alerts about the increasing use of AI for voice cloning in extortion schemes. Computer science experts noted that voice samples can be obtained from social media platforms and used to generate realistic voice replications. The Peekskill Police Department investigated the incidents while school officials warned families to verify their children's safety immediately upon receiving such calls and to contact law enforcement regardless of whether they believed the calls were legitimate.
Domain classification, causal taxonomy, severity scores, and national security assessments were LLM-classified and may contain errors.
Using AI systems to gain a personal advantage over others such as through cheating, fraud, scams, blackmail or targeted manipulation of beliefs or behavior. Examples include AI-facilitated plagiarism for research or education, impersonating a trusted or fake individual for illegitimate financial benefit, or creating humiliating or sexual imagery.
Human
Due to a decision or action made by humans
Intentional
Due to an expected outcome from pursuing a goal
Post-deployment
Occurring after the AI model has been trained and deployed