AI voice scams are here
Scammers can clone your child's voice in under 30 seconds.
All they need is a clip from social media or a voicemail greeting. Then they call you — in that voice, crying, begging — asking for money. Victims lose thousands. Hearing them is no longer proof.
Here's how it plays out
📞 "Mum… it's me. I've been in an accident. Please don't tell Dad. I need £3,000 for the deposit or they'll keep me in overnight…"
It's his voice. His exact voice. Your heart is pounding. Every instinct says pay.
Before you panic — you tap his face in Homeword. His real phone buzzes: "Was that you?"
Ten seconds later: "That wasn't me. It's a scam. Hang up." And your whole family is warned that scammers have his voice.
One person sets it up. Everyone else just texts.
- You add your family — a name and a mobile number each. No accounts, no passwords, no app for them.
- Anyone who gets a scary call taps one big face on their screen, or texts the word CHECK.
- The real person replies 1 or 2 from their own phone — and the answer can't be imitated, forgotten, or talked around.
Voice vs. verification
| A normal call | With Homeword |
|---|---|
| You trust what you hear | You trust their physical phone |
| A voice can be cloned in seconds | A device in their pocket can't be |
| Panic decides in the moment | A calm answer in seconds |
This is not a rare crime
- 3 seconds of audio from social media or a voicemail is enough to clone a voice (reported by CNN, 2026)
- Success rates of these scams have nearly tripled — 12% in 2024 to 34% in 2026 (fraud industry reporting)
- 1 in 4 people have experienced an AI voice scam or know someone who has (consumer surveys, 2026)
- The FTC received 250,000 complaints about voice-clone scams in Q1 2026 alone
The questions you should be asking
How does the verification actually work?
Every family member registers the mobile number that belongs to them. When anyone gets a suspicious call, Homeword contacts the claimed person's real, registered phone — by instant notification and text — and asks one question: "was that you?" Only a reply from their own device resolves the check. A voice can be cloned; a reply from the physical phone in their pocket can't be.
Is there an app my parents have to install?
No. That's the whole design. Parents interact through ordinary text messages, or through a single web page saved to their home screen — big faces, one tap, nothing to install, update, or remember a password for.
What data do you hold, and is it encrypted?
The minimum: first names, mobile numbers, and an optional family safe word. We use industry-standard encryption, so even if our database were stolen, your family's phone numbers and safe words couldn't be read. Everything travels over HTTPS, and message logs store masked numbers only. There are no ads, no data sales, no tracking — see the privacy policy for the full plain-English version.
What about SIM-swap attacks?
An honest answer: no tool eliminates that risk, and you should distrust any that claims to. Homeword reduces it — responses can come via device notifications and each member's private link, not just SMS, and every scam verdict automatically warns the whole family, so a compromised number doesn't stay quiet for long. But SIM-swapping a specific person is a far harder, targeted crime than voice cloning, which is the mass-scale threat Homeword is built against.
What if someone loses their phone?
Tell the family organizer. Removing and re-adding that member takes thirty seconds and instantly kills their old link, and every action is recorded in the family's activity log.
Who's behind this?
An independent developer in East London — not a faceless company. Homeword was built after researching how voice-cloning scams strip families of thousands of pounds, and it's used by my own family first. Questions, doubts, or security concerns: hello@homeword.uk — skeptical questions especially welcome; that instinct is exactly what this tool exists to protect.
Why not just a safe word?
The FBI and banks recommend family safe words — Homeword keeps one for your family as backup. But under real panic, people forget words and scammers talk them past the ritual. A reply from the real person's own phone is the one thing a voice clone can never fake.