Lesson 5 / 6 · 6 min read
Deepfakes and fraud calls
In short
AI makes it easy to imitate someone's voice or face. Fraudsters use this to pose as an owner or supplier and demand urgent payments. Three habits protect you: call back on a known number for any urgent money request, confirm every bank-account change by phone, and require two approvals for large payments.
AI doesn’t only make work easier. It makes fraud easier too. The same technology that writes messages can imitate a voice.
Three common scams
1. The “owner’s” call. The accountant gets a call in the owner’s voice: “Send money to this supplier now, I’m in a meeting, we’ll talk later.” The voice is right, and the urgency is real.
2. The “supplier’s” new bank account. An invoice or message arrives that looks exactly like a regular supplier’s, but with a changed bank account. The money goes to the fraudster.
3. The “official’s” video call. Someone claiming to be from the police, tax department or another agency intimidates you and demands money to “settle the matter”.
All three share one pattern: urgency, and pressure to skip the normal process.
An example (illustrative)
On a Saturday evening, the accountant at a Sahibabad unit gets a call in the owner’s voice asking for an urgent payment to a “new supplier”. The accountant remembers the rule: hang up and call the owner back on the saved number. The owner knew nothing about it. One phone call saved the money.
Three protective habits
- Call back. For any urgent request for money, however familiar the voice, hang up and call the saved number yourself.
- Confirm account changes. Verify every change to a supplier’s bank details by calling their known number. Don’t trust email or chat messages for this.
- Two approvals for large payments. Any payment above a set amount needs two people’s approval. Fooling two people at once is much harder.
Also keep a family or office code word to ask whenever a request seems unusual.
Where to report
If you’ve been cheated, or suspect it, don’t wait:
- Call the 1930 helpline.
- File a complaint at cybercrime.gov.in.
- Inform your bank immediately.
The examples in this lesson are illustrative, based on the kind of businesses found in industrial clusters like Sahibabad. They will be replaced with real, anonymised examples from Svadrishti's field diagnostics.
Try this week
Agree a code word with your accountant and family, to be asked on any unusual phone request for money. And write up one rule: no payment above a set amount goes out without two people approving it.
Common questions
Do fake voices really sound real?
Yes. A few seconds of recording can produce a convincing imitation. So don't trust a voice you recognise; trust the number and the process.
What should we do first if we've been cheated?
Call 1930 immediately or file a complaint at cybercrime.gov.in, and inform your bank. The sooner you report, the better the chance of stopping the money.
What if someone posing as 'police' or an 'official' threatens us on a video call?
Hang up. Government agencies don't arrest people or demand money over video calls. Report such calls to 1930 or cybercrime.gov.in.