That Call from Your Boss? It Might Be AI.
You're wrapping up a busy afternoon when your phone rings. It's your business partner's voice. He needs a wire transfer processed immediately due to an urgent vendor situation, with no time to explain. It sounds exactly like him. But here's the thing: it's not.
AI-powered voice and video cloning can be one of the most dangerous tools in a fraudster's playbook. "Deepfake-as-a-Service" is a real product criminals are using to impersonate executives, business owners, and colleagues convincingly enough to fool even people who know them well.
How the Scam Works
Fraudsters use publicly available audio or video, including interviews, social media clips, and earnings calls, to train AI models on a target's voice or face. From there, they can place calls or join video meetings as that person and make requests that feel completely legitimate. The most common ask? Move money. And fast.
The urgency is by design. The more pressure you're under, the less likely you are to pause and verify. That's what makes this scam so effective and costly.
Know the Red Flags
Not every urgent request is a scam, but certain patterns are worth stopping for. If a request comes through an unusual channel, involves an amount larger than usual, or includes instructions not to loop in anyone else, treat it suspiciously. The same goes for any situation where you can't confirm the request through a second, independent source.
A simple internal protocol, like a code word your team uses to verify sensitive financial requests, can stop a deepfake scam before it ever gets off the ground. If the caller can't provide it, the transaction doesn't move.
Check Your Coverage
Even businesses with strong internal controls can be caught off guard. That's where Cyber Liability Insurance becomes essential. Standard business policies may not cover losses from social engineering or AI-driven fraud. Without the right coverage, a single convincing phone call could result in a significant uninsured loss.
The right cyber policy may cover financial losses from fraud, legal and notification costs, and the expense of investigating and recovering from an attack. If you haven't reviewed your cyber coverage recently, now is the time. The threats your business faces today look very different from the ones it faced even a year ago.
This content is from sources believed to be accurate and is for general information only, not tax or legal advice. Consult appropriate professionals for your individual situation. Copyright FMG Suite.
