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In 2024, a scammer used deepfake audio and video to impersonate Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna and tried to authorize a wire switch, reportedly tied to an acquisition. Ferrari by no means confirmed the quantity, which rumors positioned within the tens of millions of euros.
The scheme failed when an govt assistant stopped it by asking a safety query solely the actual CEO might reply.
This is not sci-fi. Deepfakes have jumped from political misinformation to company fraud. Ferrari foiled this one — however different corporations have not been so fortunate.
Government deepfake assaults are now not uncommon outliers. They’re strategic, scalable and surging. If your organization hasn’t confronted one but, odds are it is solely a matter of time.
Associated: Hackers Focused a $12 Billion Cybersecurity Firm With a Deepfake of Its CEO. This is Why Small Particulars Made It Unsuccessful.
How AI empowers imposters
You want lower than three minutes of a CEO’s public video — and below $15 price of software program — to make a convincing deepfake.
With only a quick YouTube clip, AI software program can recreate an individual’s face and voice in actual time. No studio. No Hollywood funds. Only a laptop computer and somebody prepared to make use of it.
In Q1 2025, deepfake fraud value an estimated $200 million globally, in response to Resemble AI’s Q1 2025 Deepfake Incident Report. These aren’t pranks — they’re focused heists hitting C‑suite wallets.
The largest legal responsibility is not technical infrastructure; it is belief.
Why the C‑suite is a chief goal
Executives make simple targets as a result of:
They share earnings calls, webinars and LinkedIn movies that feed coaching knowledge
Their phrases carry weight — groups obey with little pushback
They approve massive funds quick, typically with out pink flags
In a Deloitte ballot from Might 2024, 26% of execs mentioned somebody had tried a deepfake rip-off on their monetary knowledge previously yr.
Behind the scenes, these assaults typically start with stolen credentials harvested from malware infections. One prison group develops the malware, one other scours leaks for promising targets — firm names, exec titles and e mail patterns.
Multivector engagement follows: textual content, e mail, social media chats — constructing familiarity and belief earlier than a stay video or voice deepfake seals the deal. The ultimate stage? A faked order from the highest and a wire switch to nowhere.
Widespread assault ways
Voice cloning:
In 2024, the U.S. noticed over 845,000 imposter scams, in response to knowledge from the Federal Commerce Fee. This exhibits that seconds of audio could make a convincing clone.
Attackers conceal through the use of encrypted chats — WhatsApp or private telephones — to skirt IT controls.
One notable case: In 2021, a UAE financial institution supervisor obtained a name mimicking the regional director’s voice. He wired $35 million to a fraudster.
Reside video deepfakes:
AI now permits real-time video impersonation, as practically occurred within the Ferrari case. The attacker created an artificial video name of CEO Benedetto Vigna that almost fooled employees.
Staged, multi-channel social engineering:
Attackers typically construct pretexts over time — faux recruiter emails, LinkedIn chats, calendar invitations — earlier than a name.
These ways echo different scams like counterfeit adverts: Criminals duplicate professional model campaigns, then trick customers onto faux touchdown pages to steal knowledge or promote knockoffs. Customers blame the actual model, compounding reputational harm.
Multivector trust-building works the identical means in govt impersonation: Familiarity opens the door, and AI walks proper by way of it.
Associated: The Deepfake Menace is Actual. Right here Are 3 Methods to Shield Your Enterprise
What if somebody deepfakes the C‑suite
Ferrari got here near wiring funds after a stay deepfake of their CEO. Solely an assistant’s fast problem a few private safety query stopped it. Whereas no cash was misplaced on this case, the incident raised issues about how AI-enabled fraud would possibly exploit govt workflows.
Different corporations weren’t so fortunate. Within the UAE case above, a deepfaked cellphone name and cast paperwork led to a $35 million loss. Solely $400,000 was later traced to U.S. accounts — the remaining vanished. Regulation enforcement by no means recognized the perpetrators.
A 2023 case concerned a Beazley-insured firm, the place a finance director acquired a deepfaked WhatsApp video of the CEO. Over two weeks, they transferred $6 million to a bogus account in Hong Kong. Whereas insurance coverage helped recuperate the monetary loss, the incident nonetheless disrupted operations and uncovered important vulnerabilities.
The shift from passive misinformation to lively manipulation adjustments the sport solely. Deepfake assaults aren’t simply threats to status or monetary survival anymore — they instantly undermine belief and operational integrity.
Learn how to defend the C‑suite
Audit public govt content material.
Restrict pointless govt publicity in video/audio codecs.
Ask: Does the CFO have to be in each public webinar?
Implement multi-factor verification.
All the time confirm high-risk requests by way of secondary channels — not simply e mail or video. Keep away from placing full belief in anybody medium.
Undertake AI-powered detection instruments.
Use instruments that struggle hearth with hearth by leveraging AI options for AI-generated faux content material detection:
Picture evaluation: Detects AI-generated pictures by recognizing facial irregularities, lighting points or visible inconsistencies
Video evaluation: Flags deepfakes by inspecting unnatural actions, body glitches and facial syncing errors
Voice evaluation: Identifies artificial speech by analyzing tone, cadence and voice sample mismatches
Advert monitoring: Detects deepfake adverts that includes AI-generated govt likenesses, faux endorsements or manipulated video/audio clips
Impersonation detection: Spots deepfakes by figuring out mismatched voice, face or habits patterns used to imitate actual folks
Pretend help line detection: Identifies fraudulent customer support channels — together with cloned cellphone numbers, spoofed web sites or AI-run chatbots designed to impersonate actual manufacturers
However beware: Criminals use AI too and infrequently transfer quicker. For the time being, criminals are utilizing extra superior AI of their assaults than we’re utilizing in our protection programs.
Methods which might be all about preventative expertise are prone to fail — attackers will all the time discover methods in. Thorough personnel coaching is simply as essential as expertise is to catch deepfakes and social engineering and to thwart assaults.
Prepare with reasonable simulations:
Use simulated phishing and deepfake drills to check your group. For instance, some safety platforms now simulate deepfake-based assaults to coach staff and flag vulnerabilities to AI-generated content material.
Simply as we practice AI utilizing the perfect knowledge, the identical applies to people: Collect reasonable samples, simulate actual deepfake assaults and measure responses.
Develop an incident response playbook:
Create an incident response plan with clear roles and escalation steps. Take a look at it commonly — do not wait till you want it. Information leaks and AI-powered assaults cannot be totally prevented. However with the correct instruments and coaching, you possibly can cease impersonation earlier than it turns into infiltration.
Associated: Jack Dorsey Says It Will Quickly Be ‘Not possible to Inform’ if Deepfakes Are Actual: ‘Like You are in a Simulation’
Belief is the brand new assault vector
Deepfake fraud is not simply intelligent code; it hits the place it hurts — your belief.
When an attacker mimics the CEO’s face or voice, they do not simply put on a masks. They seize the very authority that retains your organization working. In an age the place voice and video may be cast in seconds, belief have to be earned — and verified — each time.
Do not simply improve your firewalls and take a look at your programs. Prepare your folks. Evaluation your public-facing content material. A trusted voice can nonetheless be a risk — pause and ensure.
