71-year-old Houstonian loses $15K to AI voice cloning scam: 'It sounded exactly like my son'

Houston - A Houston man says he lost $15,000 to a scammer who used AI to pretend to be his son. 71-year-old Charles Lafkoff is speaking out about it, hoping to warn others.

AI voice scam: Man loses $15K

What they're saying:

"It sounded exactly like my son. He was upset," said Lafkoff about a phone call he received. "He said he was arrested and charged with DUI, and he hit a woman who was pregnant."

Then, he received another call from a man who said he was Michael Steele with the Harris County Public Defender's office, saying that his son's bond was set at $15,000.  

"And the bond was to be deposited through a Coinme machine because he said you don’t have to go through the District Attorney's Office or the courthouse anymore. It’s just the way it’s done these days," said Lafkoff.

And he has the receipts.

"Here are the four Coinme deposits," he showed us.

But when Steele called again wanting more money, Lafkoff became suspicious.  

"I went to the Public Defender's Office and asked, 'Is this guy, Michael Steele, in your office?' And they said, ‘No,’" he said.  

That's when he said he realized he had been scammed.

Lafkoff reported it to the Constable Precinct 4, which says, like most scams, the calls can't be traced.

"They're never able to recoup it because usually it is a phone number that has no trace," said Captain Vicente Medina with the Precinct 4 Constable's Office. 

Dig deeper:

Investigators say scammers will take a short video from someone online, and run it through AI software to call the victim, sounding just like their loved one, saying they're in serious trouble, such as in jail, in an accident, or kidnapped, and need money right away.

"Scams are getting more sophisticated, so just slow down," said Genesis Draper of the Harris County Public Defender's Office.

The Public Defender's office wants you to know they won't call asking for money.

"Call the Public Defender’s Office and ask for that person.  Ask to speak with someone about the call you just received," suggested Draper, saying you'll likely discover the caller was an impostor.

Lafkoff says he contacted Coinme the same day, wanting his funds frozen, but didn't hear back until days later.  

We contacted Coinme, which tells us, "In this case, the funds were removed within minutes of the transaction," and that its kiosks display six warning screens during the transaction process, with messages such as, "Is someone telling you to pay with crypto?  You are being scammed."  Coinme's full statement is below.
  
Lafkoff hopes sharing his story will help to warn others.  

"Fifteen-thousand bucks, I could sure use it. But a lot of other people would be a lot worse off if this happened," he said.

Tips to avoid AI scams

What you can do:

If you get a call from a loved one saying they're in trouble and need money right away, investigators say call that person using a phone number you have stored in your phone to find out where they really are.  

They also suggest families establish secret words or unique questions to ask to verify whether it's really a member of the family calling.

Investigators also say to call the agency that's asking for money from the phone number on their website.

And if the caller is asking for a payment via crypto or gift cards, those are red flags.

Harris County also offers tips on its website to help protect yourself from scams.

The other side:

Statement from Coinme regarding scams:

"We are deeply saddened to learn of this incident. Criminals increasingly use sophisticated tactics to trick people into sending money, and unfortunately, cryptocurrency is sometimes exploited as part of these schemes.

At Coinme, we take these incidents very seriously. Our kiosks display six separate warning screens during the transaction process, along with signage on the kiosks themselves, cautioning customers never to deposit or send funds to accounts and phone numbers they do not own. We discourage consumers from paying or sending fees to anyone who contacts them via phone, as indicated by the warning screens below.

Cryptocurrency transactions are permanent, much like bank wire transfers. Once a transaction is confirmed on the blockchain, it cannot be changed or undone. This is because blockchain technology is designed as a secure, tamper-proof ledger where every transaction is recorded and validated by the network. It's why we stress the need for extreme caution when sending cryptocurrency funds to an unknown person or someone you have recently met.

Scammers also tend to move funds out of Coinme wallets immediately — in this case, the funds were removed within minutes of the transaction. By the time the customer contacted us, the funds had already been sent outside of our platform and were unrecoverable.

Coinme is committed to supporting victims by providing information, collaborating with law enforcement and continually strengthening our safeguards and communications. We also encourage customers to be vigilant, especially when asked to send money urgently, and always to verify the identity of anyone requesting financial assistance."

 

Sullivan's Smart SenseConsumerNewsHoustonCrime and Public Safety