The voice sounds right. The request is urgent. Both can be faked.
Voice-cloning tools can imitate a person from short public recordings: a podcast, a conference talk, a social video. The FBI has publicly warned that criminals use AI-generated voice and video to impersonate people their targets trust. In a family, the calls usually sound like a child in trouble, a principal approving a wire, or the family office asking staff to change account details or share a schedule.
Detecting a fake by ear is unreliable. A verification habit that everyone follows works whether the voice is real or not.
Four controls, written down and practiced.
Verification words
Private challenge words for family members and key staff, set in person and never written in email or messages.
Call-back rules
Any request involving money, access or location is confirmed by calling back on a number already on file, never the number that called.
Payment and access controls
Two-person approval for wires, new payees and changed account details. The same rule for gate codes, alarm changes and travel itineraries.
Staff drill and test
A briefing and live drill for household and office staff, then an unannounced test call within 30 days, arranged with your consent.
One week, then a test.
Intake
A 45-minute call with a firm principal to map who in the household can move money, grant access or share movements.
Protocol
We write the verification rules for your family, staff and office, in plain language, on one page each.
Drill
An in-person or secure-call briefing for everyone covered, with practice scenarios.
Test
An unannounced test call to confirm the habit holds. Results go only to you.
Many families follow the Protocol with a Private Exposure Assessment, which shows how much of their voice, schedule and staff is already public.
Before you ask.
What does it cost?
A fixed fee, quoted in writing after the intake call. It depends on how many family members and staff the protocol covers.
Do we need to buy new technology?
No. The protocol is a set of habits and approval rules. It works with the phones, banks and staff you already have.
Can you tell if a call is fake?
Not reliably by ear, and neither can anyone else. That is why the protocol confirms every request that matters, whether the voice is real or not.
Who is covered?
Family members, household staff, executive assistants and family office staff who can move money, grant access or share someone’s location.
Put the protocol in place this month.
Choose whichever is easiest. Every channel reaches a firm principal directly, usually within fifteen minutes during business hours.
Received.
A principal will respond personally, usually within one business day.
If it is urgent, call 203-770-5461.
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