It would be interesting for your audience to know these recommendations to avoid falling for deepfake frauds.
One woman received a link via email and upon opening it, saw a pornographic video that looked real and bore her name, even though it wasn’t her, but a deepfake. The video included detailed descriptions about her personal life, such as her name, her childhood best friend, and, to her horror, even her home address. In another case, two grandparents received a call from who they believed was their grandson, asking for bail money, saying he was in jail with no wallet or phone. The 73-year-old grandmother withdrew as much money as she could, but later discovered it was a deepfake scam.
These cases are not rare; they are an example of how digital fraud is affecting our lives in increasingly personal and sophisticated ways, becoming a true Halloween nightmare. Deepfake fraud can cause depression, anxiety, financial loss and cyberbullying, and have increased in recent years due to tools such as Midjourney and AI filters on TikTok. Although there are methods to detect them, such as Real User Detection, their effectiveness is limited. Deepfake AI, increasingly used in various sectors
Deepfakes, videos and audios created with artificial intelligence that imitate people in a surprisingly realistic way, have captured the world's attention for their ethical and security implications. What began as a fascinating technological innovation has evolved into a tool capable of deceiving and manipulating. At Sumsub, we have explored the most common use cases of deepfakes and how they have impacted different aspects of our daily lives.
1. Deepfake pornography
For years, AI has been systematically used to abuse and harass women. Machine learning algorithms can now insert images of women into pornographic videos without their permission, and today, deepfake pornography is endemic.
The spread of deepfake pornography is exacerbated by its distribution through widely available platforms such as Google, Cloudflare and Twitch, and its consequences for victims can be severe, including depression, self-harm and suicide.
2. Information war and propaganda
Deepfakes are used to manipulate public opinion and spread disinformation by creating fake content that appears real. This is often done at critical moments, such as elections or armed conflicts, with the aim of polarising communities and damaging the reputations of public figures, media outlets or entire nations. Even if the content is later proven to be a deepfake fraud, the damage is often irreversible and damaged reputations are difficult to restore.
3. Romance scams
Deepfakes are also being used in romance scams to create fake identities and trick victims into trusting them in order to obtain money or personal information. Scammers, who are experts at manipulation, employ this technology to appear to be attractive people looking for romance. A recent case involved a woman from Utah, in the United States, who was convicted of a scam that cost her victims more than $6 million. This certainly warns us of the importance of being skeptical when approached by unknown people online.
4. Voice Deepfakes
AI applications can recreate unique voices by analyzing characteristics such as age, gender and accent, allowing fraudsters to use a voice deepfake to impersonate family members, colleagues or public figures.
According to security firm Pindrop, most digital voice deepfake fraud targets credit card call centers and CEOs, who can be tricked into making important financial transactions.
5. Advertising and cinema
Deepfakes are increasingly used in advertising and film to recreate younger versions of actors or revive deceased actors on screen, and in advertising to insert celebrity faces onto models and promote products. However, use without consent can harm the careers of the actors impersonated and damage the credibility of the entertainment and advertising industries.
How to detect deepfake fraud: keys to protect yourself from digital manipulation
How can we detect deepfakes and ensure that our photos are not used by scammers? Although the risk of deepfake abuse cannot be completely eliminated, at Sumsub we recommend taking preventive measures, such as:
- Be skeptical of unexpected approaches from “attractive” or “famous” people online.
- Check for calls or video messages from family members asking for money or sensitive information using other means.
- Examine images closely for inconsistencies such as incorrect lighting, distortions, or unnatural backgrounds, and note the lack of flickering or breathing motion in videos.
- Limit sharing of personal photos online and adjust privacy settings.
- Avoid sharing high-resolution, unedited photos.
- Read the terms of AI apps to make sure they won't reuse your photos once you've uploaded them.
- Contact local authorities if your photos or videos are stolen or misused.
In a world of rapidly advancing technology, deepfake scams have become a real threat that can turn anyone's life into a Halloween nightmare. However, being informed and taking protective measures, such as verifying sources, not sharing personal information, and using tools that detect fakes, can help us avoid falling into these digital traps. After all, with the right preparation, we can make sure that the next horror story is not ours.
