AI incident ·
Scammers Allegedly Used AI-Generated Voice in Boone County, Missouri, Kidnapping Ransom Scam
On this page 6 sections
In brief
An AI system built by Deepfake Technology Developers, Voice Cloning Technology Developers and 2 others and deployed by Unidentified Perpetrators Of Boone County Missouri Ai Voice Kidnapping Scam, Scammers and 4 others allegedly harmed Boone County Missouri Resident Targeted By Alleged Ai Voice Kidnapping Scam, Daughter Of Boone County Missouri Resident Targeted By Alleged Ai Voice Kidnapping Scam and 9 others.
- Risk domain
- Not classified
- Occurred
- Coverage
- 2 reports
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.
Laws on record for this risk area
No instrument on record yet covers this risk area where it happened. See the open queue.
Matched from the record's risk category and country to the instruments in effect recorded here: a law listed covers the area, which is not a finding that it applies to this incident. A reviewer can correct the match in the repository (data/external/incident_overrides.yaml).
News reports (2)
Titles link to the original publisher; report 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)
- Risk domain
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- Risk subdomain
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- Causal entity
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- Intent
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- Timing
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- Harm level
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Source record: incident #1615 on the AI Incident Database · all 2 reports