What a deepfake video call scam is

Yes, a face on a video call can be faked. The FBI warns that criminals generate videos for real-time video chats with people who claim to be company executives, law enforcement or other authority figures.¹ That's the short answer. The rest of this page explains what it means for a small team.

What a deepfake is

The word "deepfake" covers pictures, film and sound that AI tools have edited or created from scratch.² So a deepfake video call is one where the picture of the person you're talking to isn't a plain camera feed of that person.

You might see it called a face swap. The idea is the same. Someone you think you know appears on screen, speaks, and asks you to do something.

Why a call feels more trustworthy than a message

A face gives us comfort. If your director is on screen, nodding, you tend to relax. Scammers know that.

Wikipedia notes that audio deepfakes have already been used in social engineering scams to fool people into thinking they're receiving instructions from a trusted person.² Social engineering just means tricking people rather than breaking into computers. Video adds a picture to that same trick.

Signs the FBI lists

The FBI suggests looking for small flaws in images and video. Its list includes distorted hands or feet, unrealistic teeth or eyes, indistinct or irregular faces, unrealistic glasses or jewellery, inaccurate shadows, watermarks, lag time, voice matching and unrealistic movements.¹

Use that list, but don't lean on it. The same notice says it can be difficult to identify AI-generated content.¹ A call can look fine and still be fake. A glitchy connection can also be an honest bad signal.

That's why the advice on this site doesn't depend on spotting flaws. It depends on checking through a second route.

What a safer habit looks like

Say you're on a video call and the "boss" asks you to approve a payment. What should you do?

• Don't argue and don't accuse. Say you'll confirm the request and call back.
• End the call.
• Contact the person using a phone number or chat account you already had, not one given during the call.
• Go ahead only once they confirm.

Why those steps? The scammer controls what happens inside the call, including who appears to be on it. They don't control your own contact list.

If the real person seems annoyed at being checked, that's fine. A short delay is a small price. Hanging up and ringing back is covered in more detail under phone call-backs. Extra safety steps are in the notes on code words and approvers.

If something already went wrong

Australia's cyber agency advises reporting any money you've sent to your bank or financial institution straight away.³ After that, report the scam to the official agencies for your country. Each country's options are set out in the guide to reporting.

Going wrong looks like this: the payment goes out, then the real manager says they never asked. It's a horrible moment, and it happens to careful people. Reporting quickly still helps.