A code word agreed with your family

It works if somebody calls with the voice of a relative urgently asking for money or data. The FBI alert of May 2025, on the impersonation of senior US officials through AI-generated voice messages, recommends it in so many words: “create a secret word or phrase with your family members to verify their identities”. And it adds the rest of the procedure, which is worth just as much: independently identify a phone number for the person and call to verify, be wary of imperfections and delays in the voice, and confirm through another channel before sending money ^[394]Senior US Officials Impersonated in Malicious Messaging CampaignFederal Bureau of Investigation; Internet Crime Complaint Center · 2025 · official documentView source ↗Accessed on 9 September 2026.

It does not work if the other side does not take part. It is a community measure disguised as a technical one: it only works if the whole family knows it, remembers it and uses it, including older adults, who are the preferred target of this fraud.

Evidence. The attack is documented and the recommendation is official. What nobody has measured is how much fraud it prevents, and that nuance is worth stating even though the measure is obviously sensible ^[244]Implementing Phishing-Resistant MFACybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency · 2022 · official documentView source ↗Accessed on 9 September 2026.

Cost. Zero. It is agreed in a conversation, in person, and is not sent over chat.

What it does NOT solve. Nothing systemic, and not the frauds that do not involve impersonating someone you know either. It covers one specific route, the one that has grown most with voice cloning.