Father Loses BDT 80,000 to Voice-Cloning Scam

A distressing scam has highlighted the increasing sophistication of fraud, as a father in Lakshmipur was tricked into sending BDT 80,000 to criminals who impersonated his son. The fraudsters called the father, claiming his son, Nazmul Hossain Atul, had been arrested for an offense at work and faced severe consequences.

The voice on the phone sounded exactly like Atul's, pleading with his father not to tell anyone and to secure his release. Believing the urgency and the familiar voice, the father hurried to a market and made two transactions totaling BDT 80,000. It was only after securing the money that he called his son directly, realizing he had been scammed.

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Dad, they’ve arrested me. Please get me released. Don’t tell anyone. My wife and child are here. If my in-laws find out, it will destroy me.

While it has not been confirmed if artificial intelligence was used to clone Atul's voice, the case points to a disturbing trend. Voice-cloning technology is becoming cheaper and easier to deploy, with researchers noting that a convincing clone can be generated from as little as three seconds of audio, achieving an 85% accuracy. This ease of access means scammers no longer need extensive recordings or technical expertise, relying instead on readily available audio clips from social media.

The broader implications are significant. Reports indicate a sharp rise in deepfakes used in global fraud attempts, growing from 0.1% in 2022 to 6.5% in 2025. INTERPOL has estimated global financial fraud losses at $442 billion in 2025, with a projected escalation. Voice phishing, in particular, has seen an "extraordinary acceleration," surging 442% in the latter half of 2024 alone, according to CrowdStrike's 2025 Global Threat Report.

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I was sitting in my office when my father called to check on me. That’s when we realised we had been scammed.