Sharon Brightwell, Hillsborough County, Florida woman duped out of $15K after falling prey to an AI scam cloning her daughter’s voice pleading for money after car accident.
A Florida woman was scammed out of thousands of dollars in retirement savings after falling prey to a phone hoax in which the perpetrator used artificial intelligence to clone her daughter’s voice, pretending she was in trouble and urgently needing funds.
Sharon Brightwell said she got a call last Wednesday that sounded exactly like her adult daughter, April Monroe, sobbing and panicking on the other end of the line, telling her that she had hit a heavily pregnant woman while texting and driving.
The phone number didn’t match Monroe’s, and the voice claimed that the police had taken her personal cellphone after the accident. But the AI-generated sound was so similar to her daughter’s voice — even her sobs — that Brightwell was completely convinced the call was real.
Caring mother duped to forfeit portion of retirement savings
‘There is nobody that could convince me that it wasn’t her. I know my daughter’s cry. Even though she’s an adult, I know her cry,’ Brightwell, of Hillsborough County, told WFLA.
While on the line, a man abruptly took over the call, claiming to be an attorney for her daughter. The man said he needed $15,000 so that they could post bond for Monroe.
The fake attorney proceeded to give Brightwell a set of instructions, including not telling the bank what the money would be for because it could negatively impact Monroe’s credit score (yes kids, you know where this is all heading…).
Concerned for her daughter’s wellbeing and never doubting that the call was legitimate and that the man who had ‘carefully’ given out instructions was the result of a con-job, went to her bank, withdrew the necessary funds and placing it in a box as she’d been directed.
Shortly after a driver showed up at Brightwell’s house, grabbed the package and drove off.
But there was more to come.
Florida mother falls victim to AI phone scam
Brightwell received another phone call claiming that the pregnant victim’s child died following the accident and that the woman’s ‘Christian people’ family wouldn’t sue Monroe if she posted another $30,000.
Brightwell only realized she had been scammed when she got a call from her grandson revealing to her that his mom was not in any trouble — with the grandson putting Monroe on the phone.
‘I screamed. When I heard her voice, I broke down. She was fine,’ Brightwell said.
‘After you hear your child in distress, all logic is out the window,’ Monroe wrote in a GoFundMe in a bid to help her parents recoup the money lost to the scam.
To date, Brightwell has recouped $7,688 out of $15K.
The family, stunned by how quickly matters had unraveled, believe that the scammer used videos of Brightwell’s daughter on Facebook and Snapchat to generate a near-perfect replica of her voice.
‘I pray this doesn’t happen to anyone else. My husband and I are recently retired. That money was our savings,’ Brightwell lamented.
The family filed a report with the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.
Authorities continue to investigate.
