Steven Lafortune
David GrandolfoA suspicious email can sit there while you look at it. A phone call does not. Someone is already talking, the story is already underway, and the voice is asking for help. That is vishing: phishing that happens in a conversation, by voice, instead of in an inbox.
The reports behind those calls are specific. In 2024, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center logged 357 emergency-scam complaints and $2.7 million in reported losses. The report describes them as telephone scams in which a relative is supposedly in a financial or legal crisis, including what the FBI calls grandparent scams. In 2025, victims reported losses of over $5 million to distress scams in which voice cloning was used to mimic a loved one. In 2024, phone calls were the contact method in 19% of U.S. Federal Trade Commission fraud reports that named how the person was reached. In that same data book, gift cards and reload cards were the payment method in 41,120 fraud reports, with $212 million in reported losses. In Canada, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre received over 112,000 fraud reports in 2025, involving more than $704 million in reported losses. Get Cyber Safe gives the telephone figures for 2022: 21,183 fraud reports in which the telephone was the first contact, and 4,734 people who said they had given personal information to the caller.
We recorded a short scenario built on that pattern. A caller pretends to be a granddaughter. She has been in a car accident, her voice sounds wrong, and she needs money before anyone else can be told. The five clips below are moments from that call. Each one includes the audio, a transcript, a note on what the moment is doing, and a comment from David Grandolfo, Defensive Security Coordinator at Devolutions. David’s comment is in the box that follows each note.
The caller never says a name
Transcript of the call
Caller (Emma): Hello? Grandma?
Grandmother: Emma? Is that you, sweetheart? Are you okay?
Caller (Emma): Yeah, it’s me, Grandma! I got into a car accident. I’m okay, but…
Listen for the name. The caller says “Grandma” and “it’s me.” She never says Emma. The grandmother does. The pause after “Hello, Grandma?” is long enough for a worried person to supply the missing name, and once that name is spoken the rest of the call can lean on it.
Did you notice that the caller never gives a name? That pause is intentional. The scammer wants you to fill in the blank. Do not give away any information. Hang up, then call your loved one using a number you already know. Never use redial.
The voice sounds wrong
Transcript of the call
Caller (Emma): I’m at the police station. My nose is broken. That’s why my voice sounds weird. They’re saying it’s my fault. They want bail money or I have to stay here, Grandma.
The excuse arrives in the same breath as the request. A broken nose, a voice that does not match, and then the money. The explanation is there so the listener will set the strange voice aside and stay with the story.
Poor audio quality is unusual on today’s mobile phones. Do not let a simple excuse change your judgment. If something feels wrong, trust yourself. If you think it is not them, hang up.
There is no time to think
Transcript of the call
Grandmother: Tell me where you are, sweetheart. I’ll come get you. I’ll pay the bail myself.
Caller (Emma): No! No, Grandma, there’s no time! They’re transferring me tonight!
The grandmother offers the sensible thing: she will go there and pay in person. The caller cannot allow that. A real meeting would end the story, so the call puts a clock on it. Tonight. No time. The decision has to happen before anyone can check.
Urgency is one of the best ways to make you panic and lose your judgment. Scammers want you to react before you can think. Take a deep breath. Slow down, and ask someone you trust for help.
The payment cannot be traced
Transcript of the call
Caller (Emma): I need $1,500 today. A man will come to your house to pick it up. Or gift cards. Gift cards are faster.
Cash collected at the door, or gift cards, which are faster. Both are hard to reverse once they leave the house. The amount is specific, the deadline is today, and the method is chosen because it does not leave a payment the bank can pull back.
Untraceable payments are designed to make money disappear. Since when do police ask to be paid in gift cards? It seems obvious, but not when you panic. Take a moment, slow down, and trust your instincts.
Keep it a secret
Transcript of the call
Grandmother: Um… I should call your parents.
Caller (Emma): No, no, no, please, Grandma! Mom will kill me! Just do this for me, okay? I’ll explain everything later. I promise. Promise me you won’t tell anyone. Promise me!
The grandmother reaches for the right next call. The caller treats that as the danger. The plea is personal, and it is also practical: if a parent, a spouse, or a friend hears the story, someone in the room is no longer scared and alone.
Ah, the secret. The caller knows the parents would panic. But the real goal is to isolate you. If you do not want to call the parents, that’s okay. Talk to your spouse, a friend, or someone else you trust.
Watch the full call
The clips are pieces of one conversation. Between them, the grandmother also asks whether her granddaughter is hurt, and the caller keeps the story moving. Hang up, call a number you already know, and talk to someone you trust before you pay.