(NewsNation) — It’s the most wonderful time of year; particularly if you’re a scammer trying to con people out of their hard-earned savings.

Authorities warn the holiday season is one of the most fraught times for Americans, especially older individuals, to become caught up in scams.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has only served to proliferate this kind of activity, which helped to con senior citizens out of nearly $3.5 billion in 2023.

AI has changed the game for criminals… and with a-i voice cloning, and millions of unsuspecting senior citizens out there, scammers have zeroed in… prompting an fbi warning about “grandparent scams”.

AI voice cloning has changed the game for many criminals, and millions of unsuspecting senior citizens in the U.S. So much so that it has prompted the FBI to warn of “grandparent scams.”

Many older Americans may be unfamiliar with voice cloning, making loving grandparents a ripe target.

A range of scams targeting seniors led to losses totaling nearly $3.5 billion last year, according to one estimate. In many cases, scammers use the cloned voice of a loved one to claim to be in trouble and need money fast.

One scammer targeted a St. Louis grandfather earlier this year using the AI voice of his daughter. But he texted her immediately to learn she was okay. As suggested, the family now has an established “safe word” in case of scam calls since he almost fell for it.

“You would not be able to tell the difference,” he said of the AI voice. “I didn’t. This is my daughter. I would know — and this was her voice,” said Mike Capstick.

AI tools are easy to find and just as easy to use for criminals. With millions of people posting social media videos every hour, voice samples are readily available.

Experts suspect AI scams will continue to multiply since algorithms keep improving the quality of cloned voices, making them more believable.