Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their very own.
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 hundreds of thousands of euros.
The scheme failed when an govt assistant stopped it by asking a safety query solely the actual CEO may 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.
Govt deepfake assaults are 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.
How AI empowers imposters
You want lower than three minutes of a CEO’s public video — and underneath $15 price of software program — to make a convincing deepfake.
With only a brief 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 price an estimated $200 million globally, in response to Resemble AI’s Q1 2025 Deepfake Incident Report. These usually are not 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 main goal
Executives make straightforward targets as a result of:
-
They share earnings calls, webinars and LinkedIn movies that feed coaching information
-
Their phrases carry weight — groups obey with little pushback
-
They approve huge funds quick, usually with out crimson flags
In a Deloitte ballot from Could 2024, 26% of execs stated somebody had tried a deepfake rip-off on their monetary information prior to now 12 months.
Behind the scenes, these assaults usually 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.
Frequent assault techniques
Voice cloning:
In 2024, the U.S. noticed over 845,000 imposter scams, in response to information from the Federal Commerce Fee. This exhibits that seconds of audio could make a convincing clone.
Attackers disguise by utilizing encrypted chats — WhatsApp or private telephones — to skirt IT controls.
One notable case: In 2021, a UAE financial institution supervisor bought a name mimicking the regional director’s voice. He wired $35 million to a fraudster.
Stay video deepfakes:
AI now permits real-time video impersonation, as almost occurred within the Ferrari case. The attacker created an artificial video name of CEO Benedetto Vigna that just about fooled workers.
Staged, multi-channel social engineering:
Attackers usually construct pretexts over time — faux recruiter emails, LinkedIn chats, calendar invitations — earlier than a name.
These techniques echo different scams like counterfeit adverts: Criminals duplicate reputable model campaigns, then trick customers onto faux touchdown pages to steal information 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 means of it.
Associated: The Deepfake Risk 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 couple of 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 telephone name and cast paperwork led to a $35 million loss. Solely $400,000 was later traced to U.S. accounts — the remainder 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 get well the monetary loss, the incident nonetheless disrupted operations and uncovered crucial vulnerabilities.
The shift from passive misinformation to energetic manipulation modifications the sport fully. Deepfake assaults aren’t simply threats to fame or monetary survival anymore — they immediately undermine belief and operational integrity.
The way to shield 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 means of secondary channels — not simply e mail or video. Keep away from placing full belief in anyone medium.
-
Undertake AI-powered detection instruments.
-
Use instruments that battle hearth with hearth by leveraging AI options for AI-generated faux content material detection:
-
Photograph evaluation: Detects AI-generated photos by recognizing facial irregularities, lighting points or visible inconsistencies
-
Video evaluation: Flags deepfakes by analyzing 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 conduct patterns used to imitate actual individuals
-
Faux help line detection: Identifies fraudulent customer support channels — together with cloned telephone numbers, spoofed web sites or AI-run chatbots designed to impersonate actual manufacturers
-
However beware: Criminals use AI too and sometimes transfer sooner. In the meanwhile, criminals are utilizing extra superior AI of their assaults than we’re utilizing in our protection methods.
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.
Practice with reasonable simulations:
Use simulated phishing and deepfake drills to check your staff. For instance, some safety platforms now simulate deepfake-based assaults to coach workers and flag vulnerabilities to AI-generated content material.
Simply as we practice AI utilizing the very best information, 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. Check it usually — do not wait till you want it. Information leaks and AI-powered assaults cannot be absolutely prevented. However with the precise instruments and coaching, you possibly can cease impersonation earlier than it turns into infiltration.
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 operating. In an age the place voice and video could be cast in seconds, belief should be earned — and verified — each time.
Do not simply improve your firewalls and take a look at your methods. Practice your individuals. Evaluate your public-facing content material. A trusted voice can nonetheless be a risk — pause and ensure.
