> by then they've cloned your voice and left a message on your parents' answering machine that sounds like you begging for them to transfer money because you're in danger.
You don't need to clone someone's voice for that; that's a scam common enough that one of my parents almost fell for it. Cloning someone's voice might tick up the likelihood of success by some amount, but would the investment in the research-and-infrastructure (spinning up the machines to clone the voice, researching the person you're planning on scamming to find their relatives' phone numbers, etc) be worthwhile when you can just dial every phone number in the tri-state area and just try it with a panicked-sounding young woman's voice?
I consistently have to remind myself that a lot of the readers on this site are significantly younger than myself, and have decades yet before this is going to be something that might impact them. Although I suppose they have grandparents.
Scarier still is the knowledge that today, I can spot a scam call immediately - but a future is coming where I'm the one who'll be likely to read off my credit card number to someone on the phone.
You don't need to clone someone's voice for that; that's a scam common enough that one of my parents almost fell for it. Cloning someone's voice might tick up the likelihood of success by some amount, but would the investment in the research-and-infrastructure (spinning up the machines to clone the voice, researching the person you're planning on scamming to find their relatives' phone numbers, etc) be worthwhile when you can just dial every phone number in the tri-state area and just try it with a panicked-sounding young woman's voice?