What evidence should I save?
deepfake blackmail or extortion
Preserve messages, phone numbers, email addresses, usernames, URLs, payment records, screenshots, and timestamps.
A fabricated image, video, or audio clip is used to threaten, embarrass, or demand payment. The safest first move is usually to pause and verify the person or organization through a separate trusted channel.
The practical answer
Do not edit the originals if you may need them for a dispute or report. For this scenario, a useful verification step is to preserve evidence, avoid paying immediately, report the account or content, and contact law enforcement when appropriate.
Do not treat a realistic voice, face, message, caller ID, or video as proof by itself. AI can make impersonation more believable, while ordinary spoofing and account takeovers can create the same effect.
What current official warnings show
The Federal Trade Commission has warned that scammers can use AI voice cloning in fake family emergencies. The FBI has also published 2026 warnings describing AI-generated videos, voices, and other technology being used to strengthen impersonation schemes. These warnings show why verification matters even when a message looks or sounds convincing.
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners explains that identity-theft insurance and consumer cyber protections can help with some recovery costs, but products vary and do not automatically reimburse every direct financial loss.
Where insurance may fit
Existing identity-theft and personal cyber products are the closest established categories, but the exact covered event matters. A voluntary transfer after deception can be treated differently from an unauthorized withdrawal. Recovery services, legal costs, lost wages, stolen funds, cyber extortion, and account restoration may all be handled differently depending on the policy.
No Lunar consumer insurance policy is currently available through this guide. Any future Lunar product would require an authorized insurance partner, approved terms where required, and clear limits and exclusions.
What LunarQuote is trying to build
LunarQuote is exploring Lunar AI Protection: simple consumer protection designed around clearly defined AI-related events such as certain voice-clone, deepfake, impersonation, identity, and scam losses. The current goal is an entry-level plan that could start around $4 per month if the insurance economics and regulatory structure support it.
That price is a development target, not an insurance quote or guarantee. Coverage, limits, deductible, eligibility, state availability, pricing, and launch timing may change.
Sources and further reading
- FTC: scammers use AI to enhance family emergency schemes ↗
- FTC: fake emergency scams and voice cloning ↗
- FBI IC3: scammers impersonating law enforcement and government officials ↗
- FBI IC3: AI-generated videos used in impersonation scams ↗
- NAIC: identity theft consumer information ↗
- NAIC: consumer cybersecurity and identity theft insurance ↗
Want to know if Lunar AI Protection launches?
Join the free waitlist. No payment is collected and joining does not create insurance coverage or guarantee a future price.