But darn, it sounds just like him!

Recognize the Signs of a Deepfake

• Ask questions. If you find yourself in a suspicious phone call or video conversation, ask questions to gauge the other person’s response. If an attacker is using a pre-recorded message, it’ll be a big red flag when you ask a question, and the other party either doesn’t respond or continues speaking like you haven’t said anything. 
• Take a breath and pause to think critically about the situation or request. Carefully evaluate what’s being said from a logical standpoint. Does the request make sense? Think about the motivation of the message. Is the message geared to elicit an emotional reaction or create a sense of urgency? Is the person asking you to do something unusual or out of the ordinary? Would it make sense to come to you with such a request? Did the person ask you not to say anything about their request to anyone else?
• Evaluate the speaker. If you know the other party, ask yourself whether they sound like the authentic person. And we don’t just mean the sound of their voice; rather, the way they say things as well (i.e., their phrasing and choice of words, the tone or inflection of their speech, and speech pattern).
• Look for inconsistencies in the audio or video. Look and listen carefully, as you might observe abnormalities in the audio or video that can give away that a person isn’t who they claim to be. Do they look different? Are their facial movements natural or do they seem “off” somehow? Do their voices and mouth movements match up? Do they appear to have extra fingers, toes, or other anomalies? Does it look like a filter is being used? Are there mismatches as far as lighting or skin tone goes in certain parts of the image or video?

As a human being, your intuition or “gut instinct” is nature’s way of telling you that you might be in a bad or dangerous situation. You get that gnawing, gut feeling that you can’t seem to shake. If you order a shared ride service but get a weird or bad feeling about the person who comes to pick you up, you wouldn’t just get into the car, right? The same concept applies to obliging the request of a scammer. 

Voice cloning technologies have made incredible advancements in recent years. If anything seems “off” or suspicious about a phone call, stop communications immediately and call the legitimate person directly using an official company phone number. (Don’t call back on a provided phone number.) Of course, the same concept applies to emails. If you get an unexpected urgent email or text message asking you to do something, never take it at face value and always reach out to the person in question via other official channels.