Last time, we talked about how scammers rely on urgency or panic to prompt their victims to act immediately on their fraudulent requests. There is another emerging threat, however. With the rise of artificial intelligence (A.I.), the ability for machines to mimic human voices and speech patterns now exists. The sound of these computer-generated voices can be extremely convincing, causing the victim to believe they are actually speaking with a loved one. Increasing prevalence of A.I. is one reason to consider letting unknown numbers go straight to voicemail. Your voice could be recorded and be quickly and easily spoofed. But that is a topic for another day.

One method to help stop these scammers and “bots” is to have a family code word or “safe word”. This is a secret word or phrase that cannot be found out by someone who is scouring social media sites. For example, this is the same concept used with children to teach them not to get into a stranger’s car unless that person knows the code word.

The code word doesn’t have to be complicated, but should not be a word that is used daily or would be easy to find out via social media. Not a pet’s name or a nickname. Choose a word or phrase that someone outside of the family would never guess. Be creative and think out of the box; it could be a word or phrase that is an inside joke, or something completely random and off-the-wall. Be sure to practice the word with your loved ones for several weeks in private so that can be remembered if it is needed.

One problem with a code word is that it’s hard to remember because is not - and should not - be used often. Periodically review your code word with loved ones and see if they can remember it. Change your family code word once it is used.

When a scam caller or bot doesn’t know or use the word, you can assume that it is a scam. If they cannot provide the code word, hang up. By implementing a family code word, you can help your loved ones reduce their vulnerability to phone scams.