AI incident #1615 ·
Scammers Allegedly Used AI-Generated Voice in Boone County, Missouri, Kidnapping Ransom Scam
What happened
Boone County, Missouri, authorities said a resident received a call on July 17, 2026, that displayed the resident's daughter's name and number and used an AI-generated imitation of her voice to claim she had been kidnapped at gunpoint. A second voice demanded ransom. A coordinated police response located the daughter safely in Jefferson City, unaware of the call; no payment or arrest was reported.
Only the incident metadata is stored here. The underlying news reports are on the AI Incident Database (CC BY-SA 4.0); use the links above to read them.
News reports (2)
Coverage catalogued by the AI Incident Database. Titles link to the original publisher; the text is not reproduced here.
Who was involved
- Alleged harmed party
- Boone County Missouri Resident Targeted By Alleged Ai Voice Kidnapping Scam, Daughter Of Boone County Missouri Resident Targeted By Alleged Ai Voice Kidnapping Scam, Boone County Sheriff'S Office, Law Enforcement, Victims Of Deepfake Abuse, Targets Of Scams, Public Safety, Epistemic Integrity, Privacy, Victims Of Voice Cloning Impersonation Scams, Families
Classification (MIT AI Risk Repository taxonomy)
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