‘We both missed the signs’: How two homebuyers lost $66,000 in a suspected voice-cloning scam

Brian and Wendy VanDoeselaar were in the final stages of buying their dream condo near Grand Rapids, Michigan, and everything seemed in place.

After 35 years in their four-bedroom ranch, they were ready to trade yard work and snow shoveling for the ease of condo living. For nearly a decade, they’d toured numerous homes without finding one they both loved.

With its open kitchen, family room and sunroom that opened onto a deck, the four-bedroom, $460,000 condo in the nearby suburb of Hudsonville checked every box. Unlike the home they’d bought more than three decades earlier, they wouldn’t need to spend nights painting walls and refinishing floors.

“It had what we both wanted … and we felt it was in pristine condition,” Wendy VanDoeselaar said. “We didn’t have to do an awful lot of work.”

But on May 19 this year, days before closing, they got a startling email. To keep the closing on schedule, it said, the couple needed to wire $66,026.92 to a specified bank account within 24 hours to cover a down payment and closing costs.

The email listed a phone number that differed from their loan officer’s by only the last two digits. Brian VanDoeselaar received a call to confirm the instructions, and the voice on the phone sounded just like their loan officer.

Emily Elconin for CNN

The couple wired the money.

But on the day before closing, when their real loan officer sent them a statement for the down payment and closing costs they owed, their excitement turned to panic.

“My stomach started to get in knots, like something is not right,” Wendy VanDoeselaar said. “A wire should not be taking this long to be deposited.”

The VanDoeselaars soon learned they had been ensnared in a sophisticated real estate scam that uses suspected AI voice cloning and fake emails to target homebuyers in the frantic days before closing. By the time they realized they’d been scammed, their money was gone. The closing was canceled hours before the couple was scheduled to sign the final paperwork. Instead of receiving the keys to their new home, they were suddenly trying to recover tens of thousands of dollars.

Their experience reflects a growing nationwide trend. Real estate scams cost victims more than $275 million last year, a 58.5% increase over 2024, according to the FBI. And experts warn the numbers will likely grow as AI makes it easier for scammers to clone voices and fake authentic-looking emails.

Looking back, the VanDoeselaars said, there were several red flags.

“We both missed some of the signs,” Wendy VanDoeselaar said. “We had so many things going on. We were really invested (and) we wanted to buy this condo.

“It caused us to believe this scam, instead of stepping back and going like, ‘wait a minute, this is not right.’ “

At first, nothing about the phone call and emails seemed suspicious. In the blur of documents, deadlines and last-minute instructions, the fake messages felt like just another step, the couple said.

Their real loan officer had told them they had until May 28 – closing day – to come up with roughly $68,000 for the down payment and closing costs.

“Then this fraud email came in and created this urgency ,” Brian VanDoeselaar said.

The 64-year-old said he now believes the phone call that followed the emails was from a spoofed number and used AI-assisted voice cloning. The message was short and to the point, he said.

The VanDoeselaars’ loan officer did not respond to a request for comment. Justin Reilly, an attorney for United Mortgage, told CNN the company is aware of the case but cannot comment because it involves private homebuyer information and fraud allegations.

Neither the company nor the loan officer have been accused of any complicity in the scam.

Brian VanDoeselaar said he had originally planned to take the down payment from an old mutual fund. But because that involved time-consuming paperwork, the couple instead rushed to borrow money from family and other sources. Then they followed the instructions and wired the funds.

“Interestingly enough, we never got confirmation that the money was received. It was just silence,” he said.

That made him take a closer look at the instructions, and one small detail stood out. The purported loan officer’s email address had two extra letters: UnitedsMortgages, instead of UnitedMortgage.

“When I got that email and I called Wendy, she was like, ‘that just doesn’t seem right,’” he said.

They brushed aside their fears. The oddly specific amount requested by the scammer sounded legitimate because it was not a round number. “It wasn’t … like $66,000,” said Wendy VanDoeselaar.

The couple had not bought a home in more than three decades, and the steps all seemed like a normal part of an unfamiliar process, they said.

But experts say AI scams have become so sophisticated that red flags are becoming harder to spot. Criminals in 2026 can craft convincing emails and clone familiar voices with alarming accuracy.

“I used to put up these big slides with highlighted words in emails and say, ‘If you see an email with this word in it, it’s fraud, don’t click on it,’ ” said Tyler Adams, co-founder of CertifID , a US-based company that works with title agencies to prevent real estate scams and recover funds.

“That was just a few years ago .. . They (scammers) have gotten so manipulative. And they know how to cover their tracks. Real estate is tough because there’s so little muscle memory. Even if you are fortunate enough to buy a home, a lot of times people don’t do it for another 10 years. And so … you’re like, ‘I don’t know, this guy’s saying I have to send the money … I don’t want to lose out on this home.’”

Adams said he believes the email of someone involved in the VanDoeselaars’ home-buying process was compromised. The fake email’s specific details, including the dollar amount and the timing, suggests someone had access to inside information, he said.

Real estate is especially vulnerable to scams because it involves big money, rushed decisions and multiple people navigating tight deadlines, Adams said. With so many people involved in the transactions, it can be hard to pinpoint where the scammers found an opening, he added.

In this case, the scammers likely took snippets of the loan officer’s voice from his social media posts and cloned it, Adams said.

“You’d be horrified what (they) can do with a voice very quickly, for free or like $5. The tools that are accessible now make these frauds so much harder to catch,” Adams said.

“Voice-cloning is the scariest, because when you get a phone call from someone that … sounds just like the person (saved) in your phone, it’s really hard to slow down and not trust it.”

Adams said his company is working with the VanDoeselaars and federal officials to try and recover their money. He said he could not go into further details because an investigation is ongoing.

The FBI warns that many scammers use fake identities and fraudulent accounts to receive wire transfers. In some cases, the money is routed through accounts belonging to unwitting money mules , including victims of online romance scams.

The account the VanDoeselaars wired the money to has since closed, the couple said.

Once the scammers get the money, they quickly transfer it to alternative accounts, including crypto and overseas banks, experts say.

“Most funds that are diverted by criminals are nearly impossible to recover after 48 hours,” Adams said.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) told CNN that some scammers are moving beyond emails and phone calls to AI-generated deepfake videos. Some deepfakes still have telltale flaws such as unnatural facial movements, lip-sync glitches, robotic speech or awkward pauses — but the technology is rapidly improving, a spokesperson for the organization said.

The NAR urges homebuyers never to wire money based only on an email, text or voicemail. Instead, a spokesperson said, buyers should verify instructions by calling the company directly at a trusted line, confirm identities through multiple channels and be wary of urgent or unexpected requests for money.

Adams said the warning extends to everyday transactions beyond real estate.

“Consumers have to be really cognizant of how information is coming in, how they’re verifying it (and) who they’re trusting,” he said.

The VanDoeselaars’ original closing-day meeting with the seller was canceled.

They eventually got money from their mutual fund and completed the home purchase in early June.

The couple has filed a report with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, the agency’s hub for online-enabled crimes, and an investigation is ongoing.

But with a huge chunk of their savings gone, the scam cast a shadow on the milestone for the couple, who’ve been married for 43 years. They raised their three children in their ranch home and were excited about their new chapter.

“It’s such a frustrating journey and … it’s just so hard to get even excited,” Brian VanDoeselaar said. “A lot of freedom has been taken away from us. We’re not hard off in any way, shape or form. But we think twice about making a big purchase.”

Even last month’s sale of their longtime former home, normally a moment to celebrate, felt clouded by what they’d lost.

“We are just very apprehensive … is something else bad going to happen? Or can we really let our guard down?” added Wendy VanDoeselaar, 63.

The couple has also needed to rethink their retirement plans. Brian VanDoeselaar, a finance professional at a church, is close to retirement. Wendy recently took a new job as a behavior analyst for people with autism.

“We’ve even talked about retirement dates,” Wendy VanDoeselaar said. “Do we need to work a little bit longer? Do we need work a bit extra to make up for the money that we lost?”

Wendy VanDoeselaar said the scam has prompted her to learn more about AI and how it can be used to benefit or deceive people. The couple hopes other homebuyers will learn from their mistakes.

“I really want to prevent anybody else from going through what we went through,” she said.

布莱恩和温迪·范多塞拉尔夫妇即将完成在密歇根州大急流城附近购买他们梦寐以求的公寓的交易，一切似乎都已就绪。

在他们住了35年的四居室平房里，他们准备告别繁琐的庭院工作和铲雪，搬到轻松的公寓生活。近十年来，他们看过无数的房子，却始终没找到双方都满意的。

这套位于附近哈德逊维尔郊区的四卧公寓售价46万美元，拥有开放式厨房、家庭活动室和阳光房，阳光房外连着露台，完全符合他们的所有要求。与他们三十多年前购买的房子不同，他们再也不用熬夜粉刷墙壁和翻新地板了。

“它满足了我们俩的所有需求……而且我们觉得它的状况非常好，”温迪·范多塞拉尔说。“我们不需要做太多工作。”

但在今年5月19日，也就是房屋交割前几天，他们收到了一封令人震惊的电子邮件。邮件称，为了确保房屋交割按计划进行，这对夫妇需要在24小时内向指定的银行账户汇款66,026.92美元，用于支付首付款和交割费用。

邮件中列出的电话号码与他们的贷款专员的号码只有最后两位数字不同。布莱恩·范多塞拉尔接到一个电话，确认了邮件中的指示，电话那头的声音听起来和他们的贷款专员一模一样。

艾米丽·埃尔科宁为CNN撰稿

这对夫妇通过电汇支付了款项。

但在交房前一天，当他们的贷款专员向他们发送了首付和交房费用的账单时，他们的兴奋变成了恐慌。

“我当时就觉得胃里一阵翻腾，好像有什么不对劲，”温迪·范多塞拉尔说。“一根电线不应该需要这么长时间才能埋好。”

范杜塞拉夫妇很快发现自己落入了一个精心设计的房地产骗局，该骗局利用疑似人工智能语音克隆和虚假电子邮件，在房屋交割前夕的紧张时刻锁定购房者。当他们意识到自己被骗时，钱已经打了水漂。就在这对夫妇原定签署最终文件的几个小时前，房屋交割被取消了。他们非但没有拿到新房钥匙，反而不得不努力追回数万美元的损失。

他们的经历反映了全国范围内日益严重的趋势。据联邦调查局（FBI）统计，去年房地产诈骗给受害者造成的损失超过2.75亿美元，比2024年增长58.5%。专家警告说，随着人工智能使诈骗分子更容易克隆声音和伪造看似真实的电子邮件，这一数字很可能会继续增长。

回想起来，范多塞拉尔夫妇说，当时出现了几个危险信号。

“我们俩都错过了一些迹象，”温迪·范多塞拉尔说。“我们当时有很多事情要忙。我们投入了很多精力，而且我们很想买下这套公寓。”

“这让我们相信了这场骗局，而不是冷静下来思考，‘等等，这不对劲。’”

起初，电话和邮件的内容似乎都没有什么可疑之处。这对夫妇说，在铺天盖地的文件、截止日期和紧急指示中，这些虚假信息感觉就像是又一个步骤而已。

他们的贷款专员告诉他们，他们必须在 5 月 28 日（房屋交割日）之前筹集到大约 68,000 美元，用于支付首付和交割费用。

“然后这封诈骗邮件出现了，制造了这种紧迫感，”布莱恩·范多塞拉尔说。

这位64岁的老人表示，他现在认为随后打来的电话是伪造号码，并使用了人工智能语音克隆技术。他说，电话内容简短明了。

范多塞拉尔夫妇的贷款专员未回复置评请求。联合抵押贷款公司的律师贾斯汀·雷利告诉CNN，该公司了解此案，但由于涉及购房者的私人信息和欺诈指控，因此无法置评。

该公司和贷款专员均未被指控参与该骗局。

布莱恩·范多塞拉尔说，他原本计划从一笔旧的共同基金中提取首付。但由于这需要耗费大量时间办理手续，这对夫妇转而匆忙向家人和其他渠道借钱。然后，他们按照指示汇款。

“奇怪的是，我们始终没有收到款项到账的确认信息。一切都杳无音信，”他说。

这让他仔细查看了说明，并注意到一个细微之处。所谓的贷款专员的电子邮件地址多出了两个字母：UnitedsMortgages，而不是 UnitedMortgage。

“当我收到那封邮件并打电话给温迪时，她说，‘这似乎不太对劲，’”他说。

他们压下了心中的恐惧。骗子索要的金额异常具体，听起来却合情合理，因为它不是整数。“它不像……66000美元那样，”温迪·范多塞拉尔说道。

这对夫妇表示，他们已经三十多年没有买过房子了，所有这些步骤对他们来说似乎都是一个陌生过程中的正常环节。

但专家表示，人工智能诈骗手段已经变得如此高明，以至于人们越来越难以识别其中的危险信号。到2026年，犯罪分子可以制作出极具说服力的电子邮件，并以惊人的准确度模仿熟悉的声音。

“我过去常常拿出一些大幻灯片，上面突出显示电子邮件中的某些词语，然后说，‘如果你看到一封电子邮件里有这个词，那就是诈骗邮件，不要点击它，’” CertifID 的联合创始人泰勒·亚当斯说道。CertifID 是一家总部位于美国的房地产公司，与产权机构合作，防止房地产诈骗并追回资金。

“那只是几年前的事了……他们（骗子）的手段越来越高明了。而且他们很会掩盖自己的行踪。房地产交易很难，因为人们的记忆力很差。即使你幸运地买到了房子，很多人可能十年内都不会再买房了。所以……你会想，‘我不知道，这个人说我必须把钱寄过去……我不想错过这套房子。’”

亚当斯表示，他认为参与范多塞拉尔夫妇购房流程的某位人士的电子邮件账户遭到了泄露。他说，这封伪造邮件的具体细节，包括金额和发送时间，都表明有人掌握了内部信息。

亚当斯表示，房地产交易尤其容易成为诈骗的目标，因为它涉及巨额资金、仓促的决策以及多人协作应对紧迫的期限。他还补充说，由于交易涉及人员众多，很难确定诈骗者是从哪里找到漏洞的。

亚当斯说，在这种情况下，骗子很可能是从贷款专员的社交媒体帖子中提取了他的声音片段并进行克隆。

“你肯定想不到他们能用声音很快地做这么多事，而且是免费的，或者只要5美元。现在这些工具这么容易就能用，让这些诈骗行为更难被抓到，”亚当斯说。

“语音克隆是最可怕的，因为当你接到一个电话，对方的声音……听起来和你手机里（保存的）那个人一模一样时，你很难冷静下来，不去相信对方。”

亚当斯表示，他的公司正在与范多塞拉尔夫妇和联邦官员合作，试图追回他们的损失。他表示，由于调查仍在进行中，他无法透露更多细节。

美国联邦调查局警告称，许多诈骗分子使用虚假身份和欺诈账户接收电汇款项。在某些情况下，这些资金会通过不知情的“洗钱骡子”（包括网络爱情骗局的受害者）的账户进行转移。

范多塞拉夫妇表示，他们汇款的账户已经关闭。

专家表示，诈骗分子一旦拿到钱，就会迅速将其转移到其他账户，包括加密货币账户和海外银行账户。

“大多数被犯罪分子挪用的资金在 48 小时后几乎不可能追回，”亚当斯说。

美国全国房地产经纪人协会（NAR）告诉CNN，一些诈骗分子正从电子邮件和电话转向人工智能生成的深度伪造视频。该协会的一位发言人表示，一些深度伪造视频仍然存在一些明显的缺陷，例如不自然的面部表情、口型不同步、机械的语音或尴尬的停顿，但这项技术正在迅速改进。

美国房地产经纪人协会（NAR）敦促购房者切勿仅凭电子邮件、短信或语音留言就汇款。一位发言人表示，购房者应通过可信赖的电话号码直接致电公司核实指示，并通过多种渠道确认对方身份，并对紧急或意外的汇款要求保持警惕。

亚当斯表示，这一警告不仅适用于房地产交易，也适用于日常交易。

他说：“消费者必须真正了解信息的来源、验证信息的方式以及信任的对象。”

范杜塞拉尔夫妇原定于房屋交割日与卖方会面，但会议被取消了。

他们最终从共同基金中获得了资金，并在6月初完成了购房交易。

这对夫妇已向联邦调查局互联网犯罪投诉中心（该机构负责处理网络犯罪的中心）提交了报告，目前调查正在进行中。

但由于积蓄损失惨重，这场骗局给这对结婚43年的夫妇的里程碑式时刻蒙上了一层阴影。他们在自家的牧场里养育了三个孩子，并对即将开启的新篇章充满期待。

“这真是一段令人沮丧的旅程……而且，我甚至很难提起任何兴趣，”布莱恩·范多塞拉尔说道。“我们失去了很多自由。我们并没有因此而感到委屈。但我们现在在进行大额消费时都会三思而后行。”

就连上个月出售他们长期居住的老房子这件事，通常应该是一件值得庆祝的事，也因为他们失去的东西而蒙上了一层阴影。

“我们非常担心……会不会还会发生其他不好的事情？或者我们真的可以放松警惕吗？”63岁的温迪·范多塞拉尔补充道。

这对夫妇也需要重新考虑他们的退休计划。布莱恩·范多塞拉尔是教会的财务人员，即将退休。温迪最近找到了一份新工作，担任自闭症患者的行为分析师。

“我们甚至讨论过退休日期，”温迪·范多塞拉尔说。“我们是不是需要再工作一段时间？我们是不是需要多赚点钱来弥补我们损失的收入？”

温迪·范多塞拉尔表示，这次骗局促使她更多地了解人工智能，以及它如何被用来造福或欺骗人们。这对夫妇希望其他购房者能从他们的错误中吸取教训。

“我真的希望阻止其他人经历我们所经历的一切，”她说。