53% of US and UK businesses targeted by AI-powered deepfake scams
According to a survey of 1,533 finance professionals in the US and UK, 53% of businesses have been targeted by deepfake scams and 43% have fallen victim to them. Scammers use AI-generated video, audio and images to impersonate executives, with a $25 million fraud at engineering firm Arup in May 2024 being a notable example.
What happened
A survey of 1,533 US and UK finance professionals by Medius found that 53% of businesses in these countries have been targeted by deepfake-powered scams, with 43% reporting they fell victim to such attacks.
Scammers use AI-generated videos, images, and audio to impersonate executives or business partners, combining phishing techniques with social engineering. In May 2024, Arup reported that scammers used deepfake technology to pose as the company's CFO in a video conference, leading an employee to transfer $25 million to five Hong Kong bank accounts before the fraud was discovered. WPP was targeted by an unsuccessful deepfake scam in May 2024.
Reported impact
Of surveyed finance professionals, 85% viewed deepfake scams as an 'existential' threat to their organization's financial security.
Deloitte projected that generative AI could enable fraud losses to reach $40 billion in the US by 2027. A cottage industry on the dark web sells scamming software for $20 to thousands of dollars, making current anti-fraud tools less effective.
Index analysis
Deepfakes are the second most frequent cybersecurity incident experienced by businesses in the last 12 months, according to one source. A 60 percent rise in AI-driven phishing attacks has been reported, with a 393 percent increase in phishing attacks over the past year in the finance and insurance sectors.
Governance controls
Organizations are urged to implement defensive measures built on three main pillars, including education so that everyone in the organization has a basic understanding of what a deepfake is and how to spot one.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.