AI voice-cloning is supercharging the scamming of parents. But I've got a foolproof solution Zoe Williams

A friend recently got duped by a scam text purporting to be from his middle daughter, and transferred 100 to an account to cover some baffling yet, according to the text, extremely time-sensitive untoward event. You can imagine how the scammer pulled that off. Think of everyday, low-level parental anxiety, expecting bad news when kids are anywhere farther away than the kitchen table; add the sheer believability of any bad news that starts with a 19-year-old texting: "I smashed my phone"; all a scammer has to do is lean in. Still, the story wasn't watertight and we all called him stupid for ages afterwards, for failing to ask basic questions such as: "But if it's your phone that's broken, why does the money need to go into someone else's bank account?" He didn't even call the number to check that he could speak to her – arguably, 100 lighter was a good place to land.