Boone County Sheriff’s Office warns residents after AI swatting call

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A scam that makes people believe their loved ones are in danger using artificial intelligence has hit Boone County, and the sheriff's office is warning people after a resident reported a call.

According to a Facebook post, the Boone County Sheriff's Office said the victim received a call Friday that showed their daughter's contact name and number. The caller allegedly had the daughter’s voice and told the victim she had been kidnapped at gunpoint before another voice demanded money, essentially asking for a ransom.

"It was later determined the person they were speaking with was not the daughter but rather an AI generated voice that sounded like their daughter," the post says.

A coordinated law enforcement response found the real daughter in Jefferson City, unaware of the scam.

The office said this is the first time a scam like this has happened in the county. People are urged to use caution should they encounter a similar situation.

"If you receive such a call, try to verify the loved one's identity through questions to which only they would know the answer(s) or try to contact the person through other means, such as calling them from another phone," the post says.

BCSO Captain Brian Leer said that this is the first time the department has encountered a call using AI voice impersonation.

Adding that scammers will often play on the emotions of people they are trying to scam.

“Scammers so often play on the emotions; they play on the emotions of people through fear, or you know panning. That’s the sad reality of these situations," he said.

Leer said this type of scenario is not common in Boone County.

“Very rarely do we see a true what we call a swatting incident where they call in and say that something's happening at a specific address or that a specific crime is in progress.

Adding that this call generated a large law enforcement response and attempted to extort someone.

"This did both. They generated a large response for a law enforcement agency trying to, you know, basically scare everybody and get everybody on edge, and then they try to extort and scam people," he said.

When it comes to the investigation, Leer said these cases are difficult to solve.

“They are not able to be tracked back really well. They know that if they route things back through other countries and back into the United States, a lot of times it’s impossible to come back and pinpoint who it was," he said.

Additionally, Leer believes that these types of scenarios will become more common as technology advances.

“Our detectives were already aware of this happening, and certainly in some jurisdictions, but this is the first time it's happened locally. You know, as they were looking at it and researching it yesterday, they were able to find several other common scams, swatting incidents that were out there," he said.

The Better Business Bureau suggests people have a safe word that they keep private to use in case an emergency happens. If a caller doesn't use the safe word, then hang up and call the person directly.

People should also report any similar calls to local law enforcement. A suspect hasn't been identified or arrested, according to the Boone County Sheriff’s Office.

The FBI reported Americans lost over $893 million to AI scams in 2025, and Missourians lost $233 million in total to all scams, including AI.