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Incident 973: Canadian Fraud Ring Allegedly Used AI Voice Cloning in Multi-Year $21 Million Grandparent Scam Targeting Elderly Americans Across 46 States

Description: A Canadian fraud ring allegedly used AI-generated voice cloning to defraud victims across 46 U.S. states by targeting grandparents in a $21 million scam between 2021 and 2024. Operating from call centers in Montreal, the scammers spoofed U.S. phone numbers and used AI-cloned voices of grandchildren to convince victims to pay fake bail fees.
Editor Notes: Reconstructing the timeline of reported events: (1) Summer 2021, the grandparent scam operation begins in Montreal. (2) Early June 2024, Canadian law enforcement raids the scam’s call centers, during which they reportedly seize evidence and catch suspects actively making fraudulent calls. (3) Late February 2025, a federal grand jury indicts 25 Canadian suspects, five of whom are also charged with money laundering for handling the stolen funds. (4) March 5, 2025 (the incident date for this incident ID), the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Vermont announces the arrests, confirming that 23 suspects were detained in Canada while two remain at large. (4) The full list of suspects can be accessed via this U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement press release: https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/25-canadian-nationals-connected-nationwide-multi-million-dollar-grandparent-scam.

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Alleged: Unknown voice cloning technology developer developed an AI system deployed by scammers , Fraudsters , Canadian fraud ring involved in grandparent scams and Canadian fraud ring impersonating grandchildren, which harmed Grandparents targeted by Canadian fraud ring and Families of grandparents targeted by Canadian fraud ring.
Alleged implicated AI system: Unknown voice cloning technology

Incident Stats

Incident ID
973
Report Count
6
Incident Date
2025-03-05
Editors

Incident Reports

Reports Timeline

Dozens of Canadians Are Charged in $21 Million ‘Grandparent Scam’+5
$21M stolen from hundreds of U.S. retirees in 'grandparent scam,' prosecutors say
Dozens of Canadians Are Charged in $21 Million ‘Grandparent Scam’

Dozens of Canadians Are Charged in $21 Million ‘Grandparent Scam’

nytimes.com

$21M stolen from hundreds of U.S. retirees in 'grandparent scam,' prosecutors say

$21M stolen from hundreds of U.S. retirees in 'grandparent scam,' prosecutors say

nbcnews.com

Scammers accused of preying upon worried grandparents. What happened?

Scammers accused of preying upon worried grandparents. What happened?

usatoday.com

Dozens of Canadians are charged for scamming American grandparents out of $21 million

Dozens of Canadians are charged for scamming American grandparents out of $21 million

npr.org

25 Canadian nationals connected to nationwide multi-million dollar “grandparent scam” charged in Vermont

25 Canadian nationals connected to nationwide multi-million dollar “grandparent scam” charged in Vermont

ice.gov

25 Canadians charged in Vermont in connection with ‘grandparent scam’ targeting elderly Americans

25 Canadians charged in Vermont in connection with ‘grandparent scam’ targeting elderly Americans

boston.com

Dozens of Canadians Are Charged in $21 Million ‘Grandparent Scam’
nytimes.com · 2025

They sat in call centers in Montreal and targeted older Americans, claiming to be grandchildren in need of bail money after an arrest. In all, federal prosecutors said, more than two dozen Canadians defrauded hundreds of vulnerable American…

$21M stolen from hundreds of U.S. retirees in 'grandparent scam,' prosecutors say
nbcnews.com · 2025

Twenty-five Canadian suspects are charged with bilking American elders of $21 million as part of a "grandparent scam," according to a federal indictment unsealed Tuesday.

All 25, said to have operated out of Montreal and resided there or el…

Scammers accused of preying upon worried grandparents. What happened?
usatoday.com · 2025

Federal prosecutors have charged more than two dozen Canadian nationals in a massive scam that bilked more than $21 million from elderly people in more than 40 U.S. states, the Vermont District's U.S. Attorney's Office announced.

According …

Dozens of Canadians are charged for scamming American grandparents out of $21 million
npr.org · 2025

Twenty-five Canadians have been charged with swindling hundreds of American seniors out of more than $21 million through what's known as a "grandparent scam," federal prosecutors announced Tuesday.

The Office of the United States Attorney f…

25 Canadian nationals connected to nationwide multi-million dollar “grandparent scam” charged in Vermont
ice.gov · 2025

Burlington, Vt. – Canadian law enforcement provisionally arrested 23 Canadian nationals March 4 after they were indicted by federal grand jury in Vermont for participation in a “grandparent scam” uncovered by U.S. Immigration and Customs E…

25 Canadians charged in Vermont in connection with ‘grandparent scam’ targeting elderly Americans
boston.com · 2025

Nearly two dozen Canadians were arrested Tuesday and charged with participating in a “grandparent scam” that targeted elderly people in the United States, federal prosecutors announced. 

A federal grand jury last month charged 25 Canadians …

Variants

A "variant" is an incident that shares the same causative factors, produces similar harms, and involves the same intelligent systems as a known AI incident. Rather than index variants as entirely separate incidents, we list variations of incidents under the first similar incident submitted to the database. Unlike other submission types to the incident database, variants are not required to have reporting in evidence external to the Incident Database. Learn more from the research paper.

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