Deborah Del Mastro voice deepfake — Oct 2026

What happened

Deborah Del Mastro, a California mother and Navy veteran, was targeted by a virtual kidnapping scam that lasted five and a half hours. The ordeal began when she received a call from a local number; the caller claimed a Mexican drug cartel had kidnapped her 37-year-old daughter, Sarah. To make the threat feel authentic, the scammer used AI voice cloning to mimic Sarah’s voice, including sounds of her crying and struggling to breathe. The caller leveraged the mother's recent knowledge of her daughter's personal struggles to make the impersonation appear more convincing.

Throughout the five-and-a-half-hour incident, the scammers maintained strict control over Del Mastro, demanding she keep the phone line open at all times to monitor her movements and prevent her from contacting others. They threatened that Sarah would be harmed or trafficked if the phone call was disconnected. Under this extreme duress, Del Mastro was instructed to travel to various locations and wire a total of $5,400 through MoneyGram and Western Union. The scammers provided a cover story for her to use if questioned, instructing her to claim the funds were for a relative's medical expenses. The incident concluded when the scammers claimed to have released her daughter at a nearby location. Del Mastro discovered the deception only after calling her daughter directly and confirming she was safe at work. The family later reported the incident to the police, and her daughter identified the voice as likely being an AI-generated clone.