A new wave of AI scams is targeting people where they’re most vulnerable — their relationships.
Cybersecurity firm Bitdefender says scammers are adopting highly personalized forms of impersonation that exploit faces, voices, and relationships.
The company describes a shift toward emotional manipulation designed to trigger urgent payments. One tactic centers on voice cloning, where criminals reproduce the voices of children or relatives to fabricate urgent crises and demand immediate transfers.
AI-generated videos are also in play. Bitdefender says stolen social media photos are used to craft convincing romance or investment pitches, while biometric data such as faces or voices can be harvested from phishing campaigns to fuel future deepfake scams.
Bitdefender says that in an emergency scenario, victims may receive a call, email, or message from someone claiming to be a distressed family member, complete with specific details like relative names or school information to build credibility.
“One version targets parents of college students. The fraudster claims their child has been arrested and they need to send bail money, immediately, via Venmo or PayPal. To heighten the panic, they may even text a fake mugshot, warning that the student will be jailed alongside dangerous criminals unless the payment is sent immediately. Terrified parents comply, only to discover later that the story was fabricated.”
Bitdefender also describes how fraudsters run grandparent scams.
“Con artists contact older adults pretending to be a grandchild in urgent need of money. Sometimes the scheme is reversed, with the scammer posing as a grandparent pleading for help. In both cases, the plea is so persuasive that victims send money instantly, believing they are saving their loved one.”
The company highlights that in the US where over half of adults still blame scam victims, stigma helps criminals thrive by discouraging reporting and isolating those who were deceived.
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