Deepfakes Are Targeting Your Business Phones: What You Need to Know

Imagine this: Your finance manager receives a voicemail from your CEO. The voice is familiar, confident, urgent, direct. “Wire the funds today,” it says. “We’re closing a major deal.”

But it’s not your CEO.

It’s a voice deepfake.

Cybercriminals are now using AI-generated voices to impersonate executives and trick employees into handing over sensitive data or transferring money. These attacks are fast, cheap, and shockingly convincing, and they’re targeting business VoIP systems and voicemail inboxes just like yours.

Here’s what you need to know and how to protect your team.

 

What Is a Voice Deepfake?

A voice deepfake is a fake audio recording created by artificial intelligence (AI) to mimic a real person’s voice. With as little as 30 seconds of audio, often pulled from a public video, webinar, or voicemail greeting , scammers can make an AI voice clone that sounds nearly identical to the real thing.

Then, they use that fake voice to say anything they want.

 

How Are Hackers Creating These Attacks?

You might think this takes a Hollywood-level budget, but it doesn’t. Here’s how the process usually works:

1. They collect a voice sample — from YouTube, a company video, voicemail, or even a podcast.
2. They upload it into a free or low-cost AI voice cloning tool (like ElevenLabs or Resemble.ai).
3. They type the message they want the clone to say — often something urgent like:
   

   “Hey, can you approve this invoice and send it today? It’s time-sensitive.”

4. They send the message via voicemail, spoofed caller ID, or even a live VoIP call.

In just minutes, the attacker has a fake voicemail or call from your CEO, IT admin, or finance director, one that sounds convincing enough to fool anyone.

 

How Realistic Are These Deepfakes?

Very. Especially over phone calls and voicemails, where audio quality isn’t perfect.

AI-generated voices can now mimic:

• Tone and inflection
• Speech patterns
• Pauses, breaths, even background noise

In many cases, even people familiar with the real voice can’t tell the difference without warning. These aren’t robotic voices, they’re custom-trained clones designed to sound human.

 

Why Do Voice Deepfakes Work?

They’re scary because they don’t attack your network — they attack your people.

Here’s why they’re effective:

• They sound like someone you trustIf you hear your CEO’s voice, you’re less likely to question it.
• They create urgencyMost of these messages ask for immediate action, hoping you’ll act before you think.
• They bypass your usual security toolsNo email filters. No antivirus. Just a voicemail that sounds real.
• They target employees who want to be helpfulNew hires, executive assistants, finance team members — people trained to act quickly and follow orders.

 

Who’s Most at Risk?

• Receptionists and assistants answering calls
• Finance and accounting staff handling transfers
• IT admins resetting credentials
• New team members unfamiliar with leadership voices

 

How to Protect Your Business from Voice Deepfake Attacks

1. Train your team to recognize urgency scamsTeach employees to slow down when a message sounds too rushed or emotional — even if it “sounds like the boss.”
2. Verify before you actUse a known phone number or secure internal chat to confirm high-risk requests. Never rely on caller ID alone.
3. Limit public voice exposureDon’t post executive greetings or training videos publicly unless absolutely necessary.
4. Use dual approvals for sensitive actionsRequire two-person confirmation for wire transfers, password resets, or high-value purchases.
5. Build deepfake awareness into your security trainingAdd this to your phishing and social engineering education. Your team should know deepfakes are real — and growing fast.

 

Want to Hear a Real Example?

We’ve saw an interesting sample to help you understand how deepfakes work and what they look like. Knowing what these sound like and they exist is the first step in spotting them.

🎧 Listen to Real Deepfake Voicemails (and How to Spot Them)

 

Final Thoughts

This is the new face of social engineering — it doesn’t come in emails anymore. It calls your office and sounds like your CEO.

The good news? With awareness, training, and simple verification steps, your team can stop these scams before they do real damage.

At Novatech, we help businesses like yours prepare for modern threats — including the ones that don’t come through the firewall.

 

Worried about deepfake threats at your business?

Let’s talk. We’ll review your VoIP setup, train your team, and make sure your systems are ready for what’s next.