{"id":22899,"date":"2026-09-09T10:04:33","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T08:04:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.savetheproof.com\/?p=22899"},"modified":"2026-09-09T10:04:34","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T08:04:34","slug":"deepfake-scams-digital-evidence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.savetheproof.com\/en\/deepfake-scams-digital-evidence\/","title":{"rendered":"Deepfake: What It Is, How to Detect Fraud, and How to Preserve Evidence"},"content":{"rendered":"
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You see a video of someone you know speaking directly to the camera. You recognize their face, their gestures, and their voice. <\/span>Everything suggests they are who they claim to be.<\/p>\n

Or you take part in a video call with several managers from your company and receive instructions to carry out an urgent transaction. It seems to be coming from your superior.<\/p>\n

Until recently, seeing and hearing someone could be enough to trust that they really were that person. But with a <\/span>deepfake<\/b>, that certainty disappears.<\/span><\/p>\n

Artificial intelligence makes it possible to generate or manipulate increasingly convincing images, videos, and audio. These techniques are already being used to <\/span>impersonate well-known people, celebrities, businesspeople, or family members and make certain scams more believable<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

What Is a Deepfake?<\/b><\/h2><\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/div>

INCIBE<\/strong> (Spanish National Cybersecurity Institute) defines deepfakes as videos manipulated using artificial intelligence to make people believe that someone has made statements or performed actions that never actually took place. You can read <\/span>more information about deepfakes on the INCIBE website.<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

This definition focuses on video, but in practice the term covers images, video, and voice. A deepfake can be used to alter a face, create seemingly real photographs, generate fake videos, or even impersonate someone’s appearance during a video call.<\/span><\/p>\n

Voice cloning, or deepvoice<\/em>, is one of its variants and is now one of the most commonly used techniques in phone scams, as only a very short audio sample is needed to produce a convincing result.<\/p>\n

Let’s look at two of the most common fraudulent uses<\/strong>:<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

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CEO Fraud<\/b><\/h2><\/h2><\/div>

One of the most concerning uses of deepfakes in the business environment is CEO fraud<\/strong>, in which criminals impersonate a senior executive to request transfers, payments, or other sensitive transactions.<\/p>\n

In Spain, INCIBE has documented cases of <\/span>CEO fraud involving artificial intelligence techniques<\/b>, such as cloning the voice of a senior executive to order an urgent bank transfer.<\/p>\n

In one such case, several employees received a call from someone who appeared to be one of the company’s top executives. The voice was almost identical, and the supposed executive asked them to make a transfer for an urgent transaction.<\/span><\/p>\n

Days later, they discovered that the CEO had never made the call. <\/span>Read the voice-cloning fraud case published by INCIBE<\/u><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>

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Another striking example of these deepfake techniques occurred in Hong Kong. <\/span><\/p>\n

In 2024, an employee of a multinational company took part in a video conference in which several company executives appeared to be present. <\/span>According to the Hong Kong authorities, the criminals used publicly available videos and voices to create the meeting using deepfake technology. <\/span>The employee authorized transfers totaling around HK$200 million (approximately \u20ac23 million)<\/span>. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

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This case shows just how far CEO fraud<\/strong> has evolved. Impersonation is no longer limited to fake emails or messages: artificial intelligence can now imitate a senior executive\u2019s voice, appearance, and even presence in a video call.<\/p>\n

Selva Orej\u00f3n (@selvaorejon<\/u><\/strong><\/a>), a specialist in digital identity and cybersecurity, has warned about precisely this type of real-time deepfake<\/strong>, as well as the use of photographs, manipulated videos, and synthetic identities to commit fraud. Read the Cadena SER interview with Selva Orej\u00f3n about AI-powered identity impersonation<\/u><\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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Deepfakes of Public Figures<\/b><\/h2><\/h2><\/div>

But deepfakes are not only used within companies. They can also exploit the image of public figures or celebrities<\/strong> to build trust and make fraudulent investments, products, or services appear more credible.<\/p>\n

In August 2025, RTVE warned about an AI-manipulated video in which Banco Santander chair Ana Bot\u00edn and journalist Marc Sala appeared to be featured.<\/span><\/p>\n

In reality, it was a <\/span>deepfake<\/b> used to promote a fraudulent investment platform. The video manipulated the image and voice of the people appearing in it to make viewers believe that they endorsed the investment. Here you can <\/span>read the fact-check published by VerificaRTVE.<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

This is not an isolated case. Spain\u2019s National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) has warned about this type of video, in which public figures are impersonated to promote fraudulent investments, and recommends not providing personal information or money through them.<\/p>\n

It is worth keeping in mind something that is often overlooked: many of these campaigns do not consist of just one video. They are supported by websites that copy the corporate image of a news outlet or financial institution to make a fabricated story appear credible. That is why, when preserving evidence, the video is often only one part of what may need to be documented.<\/p>\n

Seeing someone appear in a video promoting an investment no longer necessarily means that they actually took part in the recording.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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This type of fraud exploits the visibility and credibility of a well-known person to persuade the victim to trust an offer, investment, or service that the person has not actually endorsed.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

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\"Deepfakes:<\/span><\/div>
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What European Regulations Require<\/strong><\/h2><\/h2><\/div>

As of 2 August 2026<\/strong>, Article 50 of the European Union Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act)<\/strong> applies, establishing transparency obligations for certain AI-generated or manipulated content.<\/p>\n

Specifically, Article 50(4) requires anyone using an AI system to generate or manipulate images, audio, or video that constitute a deepfake<\/strong> to disclose that the content has been artificially generated or manipulated.<\/p>\n

In practice, this means that, where this obligation applies, a deepfake must be identified as AI-generated or manipulated content. This will not prevent fraudulent deepfakes from existing, but it makes it particularly important to preserve how the content was published, where it appeared, and whether or not it was identified as AI-generated<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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How to Detect a Possible Deepfake<\/strong><\/h2><\/h2><\/div>

Visual clues are becoming increasingly unreliable. Two years ago, noticing unnatural blinking might have been enough, but today many deepfakes can easily pass that test.<\/p>\n

The signs below can help you identify a possible deepfake, but the decision should never be based solely on whether a video \u201clooks strange.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>

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