"Mommy, I'm Sick": Why This US Woman Refused To Open The Door For Her Daughter

As artificial intelligence transforms multiple sectors with its vast capabilities, its misuse in crime is rising just as rapidly. From financial fraud to online deception, criminals are increasingly leveraging AI to exploit unsuspecting victims. In a recent case, an American woman was nearly trapped by scammers using sophisticated AI-driven tactics, highlighting the growing risks of this technological misuse.  

According to People Magazine, Erika Anderson, a mother from Jacksonville, Florida, is warning others after she received a fake FaceTime call from someone pretending to be her teenage daughter.

Anderson said she got a call from her 17-year-old daughter's phone number. The caller said, "Hey, Mummy, I'm sick. Can you open the door?" But it was not her daughter on the line.

"I just had something so scary happen to me," Anderson said in a TikTok video. She explained that she knew something was wrong because her daughter was at school at the time.

"I take her to school. I pick her up," she said, describing their daily routine.

Anderson posted the video on TikTok on April 15. By Friday, May 8, it had been viewed nearly 20 million times.

The case highlights growing concerns about AI being used for scams, especially those targeting families through fake calls and voice cloning.

The interaction prompted Anderson to check her home's security cameras, and she said she did not see anyone at her door. 

When she began to ask the person on FaceTime things only her daughter would know, such as what they ate for dinner the night before, the AI-caller allegedly replied, "'Why [are] you asking me all these crazy questions? Can you just open the door?' "
Anderson hung up, and noticed the call didn't show in her logs. Next, she contacted her daughter's school and spoke to the teen, who denied FaceTiming her mother. 

"It freaked me out so bad," Anderson said. "She said it was not her. I knew it was not her, but [the caller] had everything on like it was her."

Anderson, who said she contacted local police, added that she didn't know how the call happened, but that it was "so scary" and she urged others to be aware in case they found themselves in a similar situation.

Since the alleged incident, the mother said she is taking extra precautions to ensure her family's safety. 

"We have now made code words," Anderson told WTLV in an interview published on Friday. "I changed the alarm in my house. I changed the camera angles. As a matter of fact, we added two more cameras."

She also told the news station that others who commented on her video said they'd also received alarming AI calls. 

"I'm so afraid for the elderly," one person wrote. Another added, "Ai facetime calls are very real and need to be taken seriously."