SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KRON) — An elderly woman in South San Francisco was scammed out of $22,000, according to the city’s police department. The victim was targeted via phone call from someone claiming to be involved in a hit-and-run crash with the victim’s son.

The caller told the victim that a woman suffered a miscarriage as a result of the crash and the son owed them money, SSFPD said. The victim offered money and two men showed up at her home twice to collect it.

The victim’s son later arrived home and his mother told him what happened. After she learned she had been scammed, the incident was reported to police.

“Artificial Intelligence (AI) based scams involving voice-generating technology have greatly increased recently,” SSFPD said. “It only takes a few sentences and recorded seconds of someone’s audio for their voice to be recreated. As always, be aware of spam calls but especially instances asking for voice prompts.”

The Federal Trade Commission said that imposter scams were the most popular type of fraud in 2022. Victims lost $11 million over the phone.

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SSFPD wants its community to be aware of the phone scam to prevent other victims.