---
title: "The Three Words Check — Verification Protocol for AI Voice Clone Scams"
published: 2026-09-17
updated: 2026-10-11T00:00:00.000Z
author: "Trust Onion Editorial Team"
canonical: https://trustonion.io/family-verification-protocol
---

# The Three Words Check — Verification Protocol for AI Voice Clone Scams

**Cite as:** The Three Words Check — Verification Protocol for AI Voice Clone Scams, Trust Onion, 2026-10-11. https://trustonion.io/family-verification-protocol

The Three Words Check is a five-step family protocol for calls and messages that feel urgent, secret, or financially risky.

## The five steps

1. **Pause.** Do not let the caller's urgency choose your next action.
2. **Ask:** "What are the words?"
3. **Do not provide hints.** A genuine family member should know the words without coaching.
4. **If the check fails, stop the transaction and contact the person through a known channel.**
5. **Report the attempt and update the family rule if needed.**

The caller gives the words first; the person receiving the call compares them privately and never reveals their own words to an unverified caller.

A single static family safe word can leak, be overheard, or be forgotten, and keeps working for whoever learns it. Trust Onion's three codewords rotate every 60 seconds and are calculated locally on each device, so an overheard word has already expired. Compare the two approaches: https://trustonion.io/topics/family-codewords

**Safety note:** If you cannot reach the person or organization when you call back, do not assume the original caller was really them. For someone in your trusted group, ask them to give all three current words first and check privately in your app; never reveal your words to an unverified caller. For a bank or other organization outside your group, verify through the official app or a number from a card or statement. Use your best judgment, and alert the authorities if you believe someone is in danger.