A few seconds of public audio or video is now enough to convincingly fake someone. This page covers what that actually looks like, and gives you checklists to use before a crisis, not during one.
The one rule that still works: never authenticate someone using the same channel they contacted you through. If a call or video sounds or looks right but asks for money, a code, or secrecy, hang up and contact that person or company back on a number or app you already had saved, not one they just gave you or that appeared on this call.
A few seconds of public audio, a voicemail greeting, a video you posted, is enough to clone a voice convincingly. Used for fake grandchild emergencies, a "boss" asking for an urgent transfer, and virtual-kidnapping calls that play a cloned voice screaming for help. No one has actually been taken; the call is designed to stop you thinking.
Live deepfake video has fooled experienced professionals on real conference calls, including a well-documented case where an employee authorised a large transfer after a video call with what looked like multiple senior colleagues. Seeing a face on a call is no longer proof of who it is.
Emails and texts personalised with details scraped from your social profiles, written with none of the spelling and grammar mistakes that used to be the giveaway. Judge the request, not the writing quality.
Fake download pages and browser extensions impersonating popular AI tools, built to install malware or steal saved passwords. Only install AI tools from the official app store or the company's own verified domain.
Cloned voices and manipulated video let romance scammers "talk" and take video calls, making a fabricated relationship feel real over weeks or months before the money request arrives.
Used both to extract personal information under the guise of onboarding paperwork, and in reverse, scammers using deepfakes and stolen identities to get hired remotely themselves. If a video interviewer's face looks slightly off or avoids normal back-and-forth, treat it as a warning sign.
Keep this short list in mind for any unexpected call or video asking for money, a code, or secrecy, regardless of how convincing it sounds or looks.
A cloned voice can sound exactly like someone you love. It can't guess a word you agreed on in advance.
None of these prove anything on their own, but several together are worth ending the call over.
Business email compromise and executive deepfake calls both target the same weak point: a single urgent request that skips the normal process.
You can't make yourself impossible to clone, but you can make it harder, and you can prepare the people around you.
Already acted on one of these? Don't wait, go straight to the first-hour checklist. Suspicious about something specific right now? Check it against warning signs.