Imagine your finance manager gets a call. It is the boss, same voice, same tone, asking them to push through an urgent payment before the end of the day. They recognise the voice, so they pay. The problem is, the boss never called. The voice was fake.
This is the reality of deepfake scams in 2026. Artificial intelligence can now clone a voice from a few seconds of audio and generate convincing video of a real person saying things they never said. For businesses, that changes one of the oldest rules of trust: seeing and hearing is no longer believing.
Here is what deepfake scams are, why they are spreading so fast, and the simple steps that keep your business protected.
What Is a Deepfake Scam?
A deepfake is media, usually audio or video, that has been generated or altered by AI to imitate a real person. A deepfake scam is when a criminal uses that fake media to trick someone into handing over money, data, or access.
The most common versions target businesses directly:
- Voice cloning: A cloned voice of a manager or supplier calls an employee and requests an urgent transfer or a change of bank details.
- Video call impersonation: A fake version of an executive appears on a live video meeting and pressures staff to approve a payment.
- Fake supplier requests: A convincing email, voice note, or video backs up a request to update payment information to an account the attacker controls.
The goal is always the same. Use a trusted face or voice to get past the moment where someone would normally stop and question the request.
Why Deepfake Scams Are Exploding
Two things have changed. The tools have become cheap and easy to use, and the results have become good enough to fool people.
The scale is no longer theoretical. In its 2025 internet crime report, the FBI added AI-enabled fraud as its own category for the first time, logging more than 890 million dollars in losses across over 22,000 complaints. A 2025 survey by analyst firm Gartner found that most organisations had already faced a deepfake attack in the previous year.
Just as worrying is how unprepared teams are. Multiple business surveys have found that many company leaders have little familiarity with deepfake technology, and more than half of employees have never had any training on how to spot it. That gap is exactly what attackers rely on.
A Real Case That Cost 25 Million
In early 2024, an employee at the global engineering firm Arup joined a video call with people who looked and sounded like the company’s chief financial officer and other colleagues. Everyone on that call, except the employee, was a deepfake. Convinced the request was genuine, the employee approved a series of transfers totalling around 25 million dollars.
This was not a small business with weak controls. It was a large, sophisticated company. The lesson is simple: no organisation is too small or too careful to be a target, and a familiar face on a screen is no longer proof of anything.
The Deepfake Scams Most Likely to Hit Your Business
You do not need to be a multinational to be at risk. The tactics scale down easily to small and medium businesses across Cyprus:
- CEO and executive impersonation: A fake call or message from the owner or a director asking for a fast, confidential payment.
- Payment redirection: A supplier you know appears to ask you to send future invoices to a new bank account.
- Payroll and HR fraud: A cloned voice of an employee requests a change to their salary account details.
- Recovery and access scams: A trusted contact appears to ask for a password reset or system access.
Every one of these works by combining a trusted identity with urgency, so the target acts before they verify.
How to Protect Your Business From Deepfake Scams
The good news is that strong protection does not require expensive technology. It requires a habit of verifying, backed by clear rules. Here is what works:
1. Verify on a second channel. If a request for money or data arrives by call, email, or video, confirm it through a different, known channel. Call the person back on their saved number. Never use the contact details provided in the suspicious message.
2. Agree a code word. Set a private pass phrase that leadership and finance staff use to confirm genuine urgent requests. A fake voice will not know it.
3. Slow down urgent payment requests. Urgency is the scammer’s main weapon. Make it a rule that any unexpected or last-minute payment request is paused and checked, with no exceptions for “the boss.”
4. Use dual approval for transfers. Require a second person to sign off on payments and bank detail changes above a set amount.
5. Train your team. Your staff are your first line of defence. Make sure they know deepfake scams exist, what they look like, and that questioning a request is encouraged, not punished.
6. Limit what you publish. The more public audio and video of your leadership exists online, the easier it is to clone them. Be mindful of what goes out.
What to Do If You Think You Have Been Targeted
Act quickly. Contact your bank immediately to try to stop or recall any transfer. Preserve the evidence, including emails, call logs, and any recordings. Report the incident to the police and, if data was exposed, follow your breach notification obligations. Then review how the request got as far as it did, and close that gap.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can deepfakes really be that convincing? Yes. Modern AI can clone a voice from a short sample and generate live video that holds up on a call. Human judgement alone is no longer a reliable defence, which is why verification rules matter more than gut feeling.
How can I tell if a voice or video is a deepfake? Warning signs include slightly off lip movement, odd pauses, unusual background sounds, and pressure to act fast or keep things secret. But detection is unreliable, so never depend on spotting the fake. Depend on verifying the request.
Are small businesses really at risk? Yes. Attackers target small and medium businesses precisely because they often have fewer controls. The tools are cheap enough to make almost any company a worthwhile target.
What is the single most effective protection? A simple rule that any request involving money, data, or access is confirmed on a separate, trusted channel before anyone acts.
Stay One Step Ahead
Deepfake scams are one of the fastest growing threats businesses face, but they rely on a moment of misplaced trust. With the right habits, clear verification rules, and a team that knows what to watch for, that moment is where you stop them.
At BestNet Services, we help businesses build the security awareness and protections that keep threats like these out. If you want to make sure your team is ready, get in touch with us today.
