Florida Woman Conned Out of $2,000 in ‘Spouse Spoofing’ Phone Call Scam

A woman in Florida awoke to what sounded over the phone like a dire situation involving her husband and an assailant, but little did she know at the time it was part of an elaborate scam seeking to swindle money from her.

Wishing to remain anonymous, Shawn has become one of the early victims of a new spoofing scheme. This latest scam has shifted from targeting grandparents with supposed calls of terrified grandchildren to fake threats of spouses being held for ransom.

Speaking to Orlando's WKMG, Shawn recounted that during her husband's business trip, she received the harrowing call shortly after 3 a.m.

“All I heard was a noise on the other end of the line,” she told News 6. “There was a scuffling of sorts and then it sounded like what I thought was my husband crying.”

A man with a distinct “dialect” demanded she wire money to him, threatening her husband's well-being.

“I asked if my husband was OK, I asked if I could talk to him, but this made him irate,” Shawn remembered. “I said, ‘OK, I want to pay what he owes you, just don’t hurt him.’”

Ultimately, she wired the fraudster $1,500 and sent an additional $498 via Zelle to an unknown woman’s account, she told WKMG.

Heywood Talcove of Lexis Nexis Risk Solutions told the news station that every family should create a family password to defend against such scams. If a caller can't confirm the password, it's likely fraudulent.

In April, an Arizona resident, Jennifer DeStefano, shared her encounter with a similar scam during a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing on artificial intelligence. She was demanded a $50,000 ransom in the dead of night for her allegedly injured daughter.

“To go so far as to fake my daughter’s kidnapping was beyond the lowest of the low for money," DeStefano stated.

With the increase in incidents like Shawn's and DeStefano's, authorities are emphasizing public awareness to counter these deceptive calls.

According to the FTC, people should remain calm if they receive a call demanding money and threatening a family member. Next, individuals should independently call or message the purportedly endangered family member using a verified number, not the one from the distressing call. Even if the caller insists on confidentiality, it's recommended to contact trusted friends and family to determine the call's legitimacy.

Victims are encouraged to report scams to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and to their local attorney general.