Deepfake
AI-made or AI-altered video, image or audio showing a real person saying or doing something they never did.
Deepfakes used to need hours of footage and expert skill. Now a convincing fake photo or face swap takes minutes, and live deepfakes can run during a video call. Scammers use them to pose as a boss on a payment call, a celebrity in an investment advert, or a relative asking for money.
The old spotting tips (odd hands, strange blinking) are out of date: the best fakes show none of them. What still works is checking the request through another channel. If a face on a call asks for money, passwords or secrecy, end the call and contact the person on a number or address you already have.
For example
In 2024 a finance worker at the engineering firm Arup paid out about US$25 million after a video call on which the "CFO" and colleagues were all deepfakes.
Put it to use
Where you'll meet deepfake in ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude, how to use it there, and the mix-up most people make.
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