AI-cloned voices of "executives" helped con a California hospital out of $3M
Federal prosecutors say a global fraud ring used synthetic voices and fake lawyer calls to trick hospital staff into wiring nearly $3 million.
What happened: Federal prosecutors in New York charged three men, Jacob Soall, Sharon Hazan, and Guy Sheetrit, with running a scheme that allegedly stole more than $129 million from thousands of companies worldwide between July 2024 and February 2026. One victim, described in court papers only as a California hospital system, lost nearly $3 million in December 2024 after staff were tricked into authorizing a wire transfer. Two defendants were arrested in Spain and a third in the United Kingdom; extradition was pending when charges were announced. All three are presumed innocent.
Why it matters: Hospitals handle large routine payments and operate under constant time pressure, which makes finance staff easy targets for urgent-sounding requests. This case shows that a realistic voice on the phone, even one supposedly belonging to the CEO or a law firm partner, is no longer proof of who is actually calling. That shifts real financial risk onto any organization that still treats voice or video as a trustworthy identity check, hospitals included.
How it works, plainly: Prosecutors say the scheme started with fake emails or DocuSign requests asking employees to sign nondisclosure agreements tied to a supposed confidential deal. Once someone engaged, the conspirators allegedly used AI-generated voices and images to impersonate a company executive and an outside attorney, including a scripted 'Lawyer Call' that instructed victims to keep the transaction secret. After money was wired, it allegedly passed through accounts in nine countries, including China, Spain, and the UAE, before being converted to cryptocurrency to hide its trail.
The rollout: Beyond the hospital, prosecutors named other alleged victims: a Missouri hospital system ($4.8 million), a UK fintech firm ($11.6 million), a Rhode Island bank ($2.7 million), plus a Massachusetts fund company and a Florida pet-food company. Each defendant faces seven federal counts, including wire fraud conspiracy, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering. Investigators say the secrecy demand and pressure to skip normal review were the clearest warning signs, and recommend verifying any unusual payment request through a known phone number, not one given in the request itself.