The Next Wave of Scams Will Be Deepfake Video Calls From Your Boss

Cybercriminals are constantly searching for new ways to trick people. One of the more recent additions to their arsenal was voice simulation software. In 2019 the chief executive officer of a British energy provider transferred €220,000 ($249,000) to a scammer after he received a call from what sounded like the head of the unit’s German parent company asking him to wire money to a Hungarian supplier. The voice was generated using artificial intelligence, says Rüdiger Kirsch, a fraud expert at Euler Hermes, the energy company’s insurer. (The insurer declined to identify the client but says it paid out the claim.)

Some cybersecurity experts have long feared what a hacker might be able to do with AI in video—create a convincing version of, say, a corporate executive who really wants to know your password. AI software is now capable of doing this practically in real time, meaning a hacker could pretend to be your boss on a Zoom call.