UK Scam Alert: AI Voice Calls That Sound Like Your Family
Three active scams worth flagging this week. One of them is new enough that a lot of people haven't heard of it, and convincing enough that even people who think they'd never fall for a scam are getting caught.
1. The AI voice call — "It's me, I'm in trouble"
This has been building for a few months but escalated significantly in May. Criminals take short clips of someone's voice from social media videos, voicemails, or Facebook posts — sometimes just three seconds is enough — and use AI to generate a convincing copy. They then call a family member pretending to be that person in an emergency.
The call sounds like your son, daughter, or grandchild. The message is usually urgent: they've been in an accident, they've been arrested, they've lost their wallet abroad. Please send money now. And — this is the detail that should ring alarm bells — please don't tell anyone else just yet.
National Trading Standards have been tracking this specifically. Through an operation called Derdap, they've blocked over 21 million scam calls and shut down 2,000 numbers linked to this kind of fraud in the past six months. It is not a niche threat.
The way to beat it: hang up and call the person back on the number already in your phone. If it was genuinely them, they'll pick up and you can help properly. If the "emergency" caller says don't call them directly or you can't reach them, that's the tell. You can also set up a family safe word — a phrase only your household knows — that anyone can ask in a suspicious call to confirm they're talking to a real family member.
2. Fake FCA texts
A new one that appeared in late May: text messages claiming to be from the Financial Conduct Authority. The message says your personal details were found in a "Report Fraud" database (they've deliberately borrowed the name of the real crime reporting service) and your accounts are at risk. There's a number to call.
If you call, you're asked for your name, your bank, and your current account balance. Some people are then transferred to a "case handler" who tries to get them to move funds to a "protected account."
The FCA is the UK's financial regulator. They don't text individuals. They don't run fraud investigation lines that cold-call members of the public. If you receive one of these, do not call back. Forward the text to 7726 instead.
3. WhatsApp account hijacking
The six-digit code scam has been around for years, but a 2026 variant called GhostPairing is worth knowing about. You receive what looks like a photo link from someone in one of your WhatsApp groups. Clicking it starts a linked-device session without any visible sign on your phone. The attacker can read your messages and impersonate you silently.
The original version still catches people too. Someone in a group messages you, chats normally for a bit, and at the same moment you get a text from WhatsApp with a six-digit verification code. They claim they sent you "their code by accident" and ask you to pass it on. You do. They're in your account.
Two things stop both. First: never share a WhatsApp code with anyone, ever — WhatsApp says in the text message itself "never share this code." Second: enable two-step verification in WhatsApp (Settings, Account, Two-step verification). If that's on, a stolen code alone isn't enough to get in.
If it's already happened
If you've transferred money, shared banking details, or had someone on your PC or phone:
- Call your bank immediately. Number on the back of your card. Don't wait. UK banks have 24/7 fraud lines, and the faster you call, the better the chance of recovery.
- Dial 159. This connects directly to your bank's fraud team and works with most major UK banks including Lloyds, Barclays, NatWest, HSBC, and Santander.
- Change your email password first, then anything else that matters. Email is the one attackers use to reset everything else.
- If someone was on your PC — either via remote access software they walked you through installing, or via a link you clicked — get it looked at. Remote access gives them full read and write access to everything on the machine.
How to report scams
- Scam text → forward to
7726(free on all UK networks) - Scam email → forward to
report@phishing.gov.uk - Scam website → report at ncsc.gov.uk
- Fraud → Report Fraud on
0300 123 2040or reportfraud.police.uk (replaced Action Fraud in December 2025)
Worth knowing: Action Fraud became Report Fraud in December 2025. The phone number (0300 123 2040) and general process are the same, but the website is now reportfraud.police.uk. Scotland still reports to Police Scotland on 101.
If you're worried something got onto your machine after clicking a link or calling a number that turned out to be fraudulent, I can check it over. I handle virus and malware removal in St Helens and it's worth getting it looked at before assuming everything's fine.
Mark has been fixing computers since the late '90s and went self-employed in 2008. Based in St Helens since 2013, he works evenings and weekends from his home in Laffak — friendly, affordable repairs for PCs, laptops, and Macs. See reviews on Google
Think you've been scammed? Or had someone on your PC?
If you've let someone remote in, installed dodgy software, or just want your PC checked over — get in touch and I'll have a proper look.
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— Joe Gempton, via Google