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A codeword only they'd know.

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9:41 􀙇 􀛨
B
Bob
Synced
Your word
easing
Bob's word
footwork
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Rotates every 10s
9:41 􀙇 􀛨
A
Alice
Synced
Your word
footwork
Alice's word
easing
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Rotates every 10s

The threat is already making headlines

Ars Technica Dec 2024 Your AI clone could target your family, but there's a simple defense Benj Edwards — on FBI secret-word guidance and “proof of humanity” CNN Business May 2026 AI “voice cloning” scams are on the rise. Here's how to protect yourself Clare Duffy — explicitly discusses family code words 404 Media May 2026 “HELLO BOSS”: Inside the Chinese realtime deepfake software powering scams Joseph Cox — hands-on with a realtime deepfake tool WIRED Jul 2026 AI scammers are better at building trust than humans Andy Greenberg — on AI agents outperforming humans at exploitable trust Scientific American May 2024 A safe word can protect against AI impostor scams Ben Guarino, quoting Hany Farid — a foundational codeword piece Forbes Oct 2025 “Protect your family” — FBI warns you need a secret word Zak Doffman BBC Future Aug 2026 The secret codewords that scammers hate Long-form on family codewords, panic failures, and Farid's own practice Consumer Reports Mar 2025 Voice cloning apps let criminals easily steal your voice Investigation into consent failures across voice-cloning apps CNN May 2026 What you need to know about the new AI voice-cloning scam Clare Duffy — video segment 404 Media Jan 2024 Deepfaked celebrity ads promoting Medicare scams run rampant on YouTube Jason Koebler Forbes Jul 2025 Deepfaking voices has never been easier — do not get caught out Zak Doffman 404 Media Jan 2024 YouTube deletes 1,000 videos of celebrity AI scam ads Jason Koebler — the follow-up CNN May 2026 “I was totally taken by it”: a victim of the new scam speaks out Video — a target describes the call 404 Media May 2026 Podcast: the Chinese deepfake software powering scams The 404 Media Podcast on the Haotian AI investigation

Stop trying to verify people the old way.

You already have instincts for this. They don't hold up anymore.

Improvised verification questions

"Prove it. What did we talk about last time?" Works right up until someone's scraped enough from your social media to answer it too.

Second-guessing real messages

An email or text from someone you actually know, and you still pause because you genuinely can't tell anymore.

A background hum of dread about cloned voices

Not a plan. Just a worry that gets louder every time a new deepfake story breaks.

Even if you already have a family codeword...

Here's why it breaks the moment you actually need it.

What happens when you forget it?

Illustration of a person scratching their head, trying to remember something, with a tangled thought scribble above them.

Who says it first?

Illustration of two people facing each other, each with an overlapping speech bubble.

What if the cloned voice just asks for it?

Illustration of a face split in half — one side human, one side made of circuit lines — with a speech bubble containing a soundwave.

Why does everyone share the same word?

Illustration of one central figure connected by lines to five surrounding figures, like a network diagram.

A codeword only works if ...

  1. it changes constantly
  2. securely lives on the device instead of in memory
  3. and is different for every person you trust

That's the whole idea behind realxreal.

Every trusted contact gets a secure rotating codeword pair. If they don't match, it's not them.

realxreal home screen showing Alice's list of trusted contacts with live rotating codewords

How It Works

Set it up once. Stay synced forever.

  1. Step 1

    Choose your rotation

    Every 30 seconds, every minute, every five — you decide how often your codeword pair refreshes. Faster rotation means a shorter window for anything to leak.

    realxreal settings screen asking how often codewords should rotate, with interval options to choose from

  2. Step 2

    Invite a contact

    Scan a QR code or send a link. That one moment sets up a shared cryptographic seed — nothing to configure after.

    realxreal invite screen for adding Bob as a trusted contact, showing a QR code and a shareable link

  3. Step 3

    Stay synced, even offline

    Codewords keep rotating in sync on both devices without needing a live connection every time. Open the app days later and they still match.

    realxreal confirmation screen showing that you are synced with Alice

Attacks We Prevent

Traditional MFA proves a device is yours. realxreal proves the person on the other end is who they claim to be.

AI Deepfakes

Voice clones and video calls that sound and look exactly right.

SIM Swaps

Someone else's device now answers as "you."

Account Compromise

A real login on a compromised or spoofed account across text, email, social, and chat apps.

Who It's For

Families

When a call sounds exactly like your kid the codeword tells you in seconds if it's really them.

Executives

Stop wire fraud before it starts. Verify who's actually asking for that transfer, with no shared secret a scammer could research or guess.

Journalists

Confirm a source is who they claim to be, even over an unfamiliar number or a cloned voice.

Everyone Else

Anyone who wants a real answer to "is this actually them?"