NEED TO KNOW
- A Florida woman was conned out of $15,000 due to AI-cloned audio of her daughter’s voice
- Sharon Brightwell said she received a phone call from a number similar to her daughter’s, and when she answered, she heard her daughter tearfully proclaim that she had been in a car crash — but it was all a scam
- “There is nobody that could convince me that it wasn’t her,” Brightwell said
A Florida woman fell victim to a cold-hearted scam.
Sharon Brightwell was conned out of $15,000 due to AI-cloned audio of her daughter’s voice. On July 9, she received a phone call from a number similar to her daughter’s, according to WFLA.
When the concerned mother answered, she heard her daughter tearfully proclaim that she had been in a car crash.
“There is nobody that could convince me that it wasn’t her,” Brightwell said. “I know my daughter’s cry.”
The caller claimed to have gotten in a car crash with a pregnant woman while texting and driving. Then a man, claiming to be an attorney, informed Brightwell that her daughter was being detained and needed $15,000 in bail money.
Brightwell withdrew the cash and followed the delivery instructions. However, afterwards, she received another call claiming that the pregnant woman lost her baby during the accident and was threatening to sue.
Brightwell was informed that the family would not sue if she gave them another $30,000.
Brightwell’s grandson then intervened and, together with a family friend, helped her get in touch with her real daughter. “When I heard her voice, I broke down,” she told WFLA. “She was fine. She was still at work.”
A police report has been filed with the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO), which told PEOPLE that “detectives are investigating this case.”
“That is all the information we have at this time as it remains an active investigation,” officials said.
A GoFundMe fundraiser has been created by Brightwell’s daughter, April Monroe, to help the family recover financially.
Monroe wrote in the description that her voice “was AI cloned and sounded exactly like me.”
She explained that her son was with her mother during the incident. After the second request for money, the pair called “a close family friend,” who informed them that it was a scam.
Around the same time, Monroe texted her children on her lunch break, and “it all came together.”
“My mom and son were in absolute shock. Our friend then added me to a three-way call so that my mom could hear my voice. I have never heard the sounds she made when she heard that I was fine,” Monroe wrote on the GoFundMe.
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The daughter shared that her father has been dealing with “a botched surgery” and dementia, and as a result, her mother has had to add many new responsibilities to her daily routine.
“I only share this part to explain why a tragic call from your child added to this could easily send you over the edge and cause you to make choices you normally would not,” she explained.
Monroe now hopes that sharing her family’s story will keep others from falling victim to this and other similar scams.
“We only hope it will prevent this from continuing to victimize vulnerable people,” she wrote.
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