Sheriff says scammers cloned Florida captain’s voice in police impersonation scheme

A threatening call can borrow more than a police officer’s name. In Osceola County, Florida, scammers used an AI-cloned voice and a real captain’s photograph to impersonate him, Sheriff Chris Blackmon told News 6. The warning concerns calls that use false arrest-warrant or missed-jury-duty claims to pressure people into surrendering money or personal information.

A real captain, a false caller

News 6’s October 19 report describes a circulating voicemail whose caller identifies himself as “Captain Steve Moser” and asks the recipient to contact the sheriff’s office. Moser is a captain with the agency, and his photograph appears on its website. The identity being borrowed is genuine; Blackmon said the person making the call was not Moser.

The reported scheme combines that officer’s identity with claims that the recipient has a warrant or failed to attend jury duty. The aim is to frighten people into providing personal information or paying potentially thousands of dollars. The voicemail described by News 6 asks for contact with the agency; the wider warning concerns the money and information demands behind these impersonation calls.

About 40Law-enforcement impersonation cases this year

The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office estimates about 40 cases involving law-enforcement impersonation in 2026. That estimate covers impersonation cases, not a count of confirmed AI voice clones.

A short recording can supply the voice

Cybersecurity expert Perry Carpenter demonstrated for News 6 how audio taken from videos posted online can be used to create a voice clone. He said someone with a little curiosity could make a convincing clone from about 20 seconds of audio. Some systems, he added, can work with less than five seconds.

Those sample lengths are Carpenter’s description of what voice-cloning systems can do, not a measurement of the recording used to impersonate Moser. The specific allegation that scammers cloned the captain’s voice comes from Blackmon. Carpenter’s demonstration explains how online recordings can supply material for such an imitation; it does not identify the system behind this call.

Check the request, not the resemblance

Blackmon’s clearest test concerns what the caller wants: the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office will never call demanding money to resolve a warrant or missed jury duty. A demand for immediate payment under threat of arrest contradicts that policy, regardless of whether the voice sounds familiar or the caller uses an officer’s real name.

News 6’s safety guidance also warns against treating an official photograph or a legitimate-looking phone number as proof. Scammers can fake the apparent voice, image and calling number. Its recommended response is to move verification outside the incoming call, rather than let the person making the demand supply the means of checking it.

• Hang up if someone says you must pay immediately to avoid arrest. Do not send money or share personal information before independently checking the caller’s identity.
• Find the agency’s phone number yourself, using a trusted source such as its official website, and contact it directly to check the claim.
• Do not use a number supplied by the caller, left in the voicemail or sent in a text message as your route to verification.