AI and Deepfakes: How to Check and How to Protect Yourself

Friends Against Scams have been working with The Deep Truth Project to educate people around the threats of AI and Deepfake scams. Together, we have created a factsheet with information on how to stay safe. Fraud, scams, and AI are increasingly overlapping, creating new challenges for professionals supporting members of the public. While many incidents still involve familiar fraud tactics, technology is changing how offenders operate, how harm is caused, and what individuals can do to protect themselves and recover from incidents.

What is a deepfake?

A deepfake is a fake video, voice or photo of a real person, made using artificial intelligence (AI). It can show someone saying or doing things they never did. AI can also invent people who don't exist at all. These fakes are cheap and easy to make. A criminal can copy someone's voice from a few seconds of a video posted online. Criminals also use AI to write scam messages in perfect English, by the thousand. These fakes are very convincing. Research shows even careful listeners cannot reliably tell a cloned voice from a real one. Being blindsided by one says nothing about your intelligence. This factsheet shows you how criminals use them, and the simple habits that beat them.

How deepfakes are being used by criminals?

Some examples of ways deepfakes are being used by criminals include family phone scams, impersonation scams and many more. Read the factsheet to find out more!

• Family phone scams:
  • The phone rings. It's your daughter's voice. She's upset, she's in trouble, and she needs money now. She asks you not to tell anyone. The voice is exactly hers, because it was copied. AI can clone a voice from a few seconds of audio taken from videos online. Criminals use cloned voices to fake family emergencies. In the cruellest version, the voice cries or screams and someone demands money for their safe return. Remember: a familiar voice is no longer proof of who is calling.
  • Hang up. Call the person or organisation back on a number you already have. It takes a minute and it is effective against this scam. For extra security, use a different phone for the call back, if possible, as sometimes the criminals can keep the line open after you think you have ended the call. Better still, agree a family code word in advance that a criminals could not know.
• Impersonation scams:
  • A caller says they are from your bank’s fraud team, the police or HMRC. The voice sounds professional. The number on your screen even matches the real organisation, because caller ID can be faked. They say your account is at risk, and you must move your money to a ‘safe account’, or read out a code, right now. Remember: safe accounts do not exist. No real bank or police officer will ever ask you to move money, and a caller knowing your details or ‘passing security’ proves nothing.
  • Hang up. Wait a few minutes, then call back on a number you found yourself: dial 159 to be connected securely to your bank, 101 for the police, or use the number on an official letter. The request to move money is itself the scam.

Protect yourself: five things to set up today

1. Agree a code word with your family that a criminal could not know.
2. Save the real numbers of your bank and close family, and remember 159: the safe way to reach your bank’s fraud team from any phone.
3. Make a rule: no urgent money request gets an answer within the hour. Real emergencies survive a pause. Scams don't.
4. Check things some other way, using a number or website you already know is real.
5. Tell the people around you about these scams. Someone who has heard of voice cloning is very hard to scam with it.

Supporting Victims:

Victims of these scams often feel a special kind of shame. "But I heard his voice." "But I saw her on video." If someone tells you this happened to them, believe them. Remind them that these scams are designed to deceive anyone. Being targeted is never their fault.

Then help them act fast:

1. Contact the bank first
2. Report it to Report Fraud
3. Tell Citizens Advice
4. Keep the evidence: messages, numbers, adverts, and the original files rather than screenshots where possible.
   
5. Warn them about the ‘second wave’: after a scam, criminals often call back pretending to be police or a company that can recover the stolen money. That call is the same criminals. Real organisations never cold-call offering to recover funds for a fee.
6. If their own voice or photos have been misused, report it to the platform where it appeared

Remember: When supporting someone who has been a victim of AI based scams, make sure to approach without blame — victims are often embarrassed or ashamed. Listen first; avoid saying "I told you so" or questioning their judgment. Help them take the practical steps listed above.