Controls
Payment approval checks that a deepfake cannot beat
The strongest defence is a payment process in which no single call, however convincing, can release money. Design it around who approves and how a request is confirmed.
Last reviewed against Building, Government Office for Science (UK Government) and The Register. Sources
Principle
Verify the request, not the person
A deepfake attacks recognition: you see or hear someone you know. A good control ignores recognition and checks the request through a route the attacker does not control. Report Fraud advises a verification process that involves more than one person before any funds transfer [10], and the NCSC advises confirming important requests by a second type of communication [8].
The design
Five steps for a payment process
-
1
Define the triggers: new payees, changed bank details, urgent or out-of-hours transfers and anything above a limit you set. -
2
For each trigger, name the confirmation: ringing the requester on a number from your own records, or approval inside a logged-in system. -
3
Require a second approver who was not on the original call or message [10]. -
4
Keep a record of who confirmed what, and how. -
5
Apply the same steps to every channel, including video meetings and voice notes.
Where it fails
Common weak points
One person is the whole control
If a finance lead can both receive the request and release the money, a convincing caller needs to persuade only one person. Splitting receipt from approval raises the effort for an attacker.
The confirmation goes back to the attacker
Calling a number from the request, or replying on the same thread, confirms nothing. Report Fraud's advice is to use contact details you know are correct [9].
Seniority overrides the rule
The NCSC says staff should know the normal ways payments are made so that unusual requests stand out [8]. Put it in writing that no seniority waives the check, and have a director say so.
Evidence
Why the effort is justified
UK Finance reports that authorised push payment fraud losses rose 19% to £576.4 million in 2025, of which £75.6 million was lost by businesses [4]. Those totals cover all methods, so they do not isolate deepfakes, but they show what rests on a person's decision to send a payment [4].
Next: how to spot a deepfake call, and what to do if money has been sent.
Test it
Ask a trusted colleague to phone finance as a director and request an urgent payment to a new account. Note what happens, and who would have caught it.
Keep reading
Read next
Spotting a fake
What to do when a call or video meeting seems off: the pressure signs that matter, why visual glitches are unreliable and what to ask instead.
Read the guide
If money has gone
Practical steps for a UK organisation that has paid a criminal after a fake call or video meeting: bank, police, records, staff and review.
Read the guide
What is it?
What deepfake fraud is, how it differs from ordinary phishing and invoice fraud, and the forms it takes against UK organisations.
Read the guideHow CyPro can help
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