Can You Trust That Voice on the Phone?

Why deepfakes are the next big cyber threat—and how to protect your business

Imagine this.

You’re at your desk when your phone rings. It’s your CEO’s number. You answer, and you hear their voice—familiar, confident, and direct.

“Hey, I’m meeting with a new vendor right now. They’re helping with our website project. Can you go ahead and pay the first three months upfront? It’s $18,000. I’ll send you the payment details. We need this to happen today.”

You’ve worked with this leader for years. The voice is unmistakable. It came from their number. It sounds like something they’d say. So… you pay it.

But it wasn’t them.

You were just deepfaked.

 

What Are Deepfakes?

Deepfakes are fake videos, voice messages, or images created using AI and machine learning. They look and sound like real people—but they’re not.

• Voice deepfakes can copy someone’s tone, pitch, and speaking style with only a short audio clip or video.
• Video deepfakes can create completely fake video calls, making it appear like someone is speaking live.
• Text-based impersonations (with ChatGPT-like tools) can mimic how someone writes in emails or chat messages.

These aren’t “someday” threats. They’re happening right now—and businesses are starting to pay the price.

 

Real-World Deepfake Examples

• United Kingdom (2020): A company’s CEO believed he was talking to his boss on the phone. The caller sounded exactly like him and asked for a $243,000 transfer. It turned out to be a deepfake voice scam. The money was wired. It was never recovered.
• Hong Kong (2023): Scammers used deepfake video to impersonate a finance executive in a fake Zoom meeting, convincing an employee to send $25 million. The video was pre-recorded, but it looked real enough to fool everyone.
• Cybersecurity Firms are now reporting rising cases of “audio-only” deepfakes used to trick assistants, office managers, and finance teams into fast payments.

 

Why Deepfakes Work So Well

Scammers know how to pressure and trick people in believable ways:

1. Urgency: “This needs to happen right now.”
2. Authority: “This is your CEO, your boss, your director.”
3. Believability: “It came from their number. It sounds like them. It must be them.”
4. Trust: They count on you wanting to be helpful and responsive.

And now, with AI cloning real voices from YouTube videos, podcasts, and recorded meetings, they don’t need to hack your systems to cause damage—they just need to sound like someone important.

 

How Do You Protect Yourself?

Here’s the tough part: it’s no longer enough to trust your ears or caller ID. That’s the world we live in now.

But there are ways to fight back—and stay one step ahead.

 

1. Always Verify Requests for Money or Sensitive Info

Build a simple rule: no matter who asks, confirm large payments through another method.

If someone “calls” and says it’s urgent, tell them you’ll confirm via Slack, text, or email—or call them back on a known number.

Yes, it may feel awkward, but one awkward moment is better than losing $18,000.

 

2. Train Your Team to Recognize Red Flags

Make sure employees know that urgency, secrecy, and pressure are tools attackers use.

If a request seems rushed or out of character—even if it sounds real—slow down. Ask questions. Verify.

Use real examples (like this article) in your training sessions.

 

3. Add Approval Layers for Financial Transactions

No single person should be able to send large payments without a second check.

Use dual-approval workflows, payment alerts, or escalation policies to protect your business from quick-decision mistakes.

 

This Isn’t Paranoia. It’s the New Normal.

Deepfakes are more than a fun internet trick. They are a real threat to real businesses—especially those with limited internal security teams.

At Novatech, we help organizations rethink how they approve payments, protect staff from deception, and build Zero Trust processes that don’t rely on voices or caller ID to verify identity.

Because in 2025, the biggest risks aren’t just hackers.

They’re the voices you thought you could trust.

Want to Protect Your Team from Deepfake Fraud?

Let’s walk through your approval process and help you build a smarter, safer system—without slowing down your business.

Book a Deepfake Readiness Consultation with Novatech