AI impersonation scams Canadian couple of USD 21,000

An elderly Canadian couple were defrauded of CAD 21,000 after they were contacted by an alleged lawyer who said their son had killed a US diplomat in a car accident and required money for legal support. 

According to the Washington Post, the 'lawyer' had allegedly put Benjamin Perkins, the couple's son, on the line to underline the gavity and urgency of the situation. Perkins' synthetic voice was sufficiently close to his real voice that his parents believed the call and sent the money to the scammer using Bitcoin. The couple only realised they had been scammed after Perkin called later that evening. 

Perkin told the the Post that he didn't know how the scammer discovered his voice, though he had posted videos about snowmobiling on YouTube.