Australian businesses falling victim to deepfakes

One in eight Australian businesses fell victim to deepfake scams in the past 12 months, research commissioned by MasterCard indicates. The research found that 20% of Australian businesses have received deepfake threats in the past 12 months, and of these, 12% fell for the manipulated content.

The deepfake scams most commonly targeted at businesses include attackers posing as customer service (44%), clients (38%) and suppliers/vendors (34%). CEOs, employees, board members and law enforcement were also impersonated in scams.

Australian businesses have been targeted on average four times over the past year, with 10% of attacks targeting the theft of personal data. Meanwhile only 30% of businesses are confident their employees can detect deepfake scams, and only 45% have conducted cybersecurity training to prevent attacks. In addition, 16% of Australian businesses have not taken any measures to protect themselves from deepfake scams.

The research found that financial motivations were behind 86% of attacks. But despite this, only 29% of Australian businesses have implemented protocols for payment requests, while only 34% have organised financial transaction training.

Australian citizens are also in the crosshairs, with 36% reporting being targeted by deepfake scams in the last 12 months. Of those targeted, 22% lost money to the scams, and of these, 48% admitted not reporting it.

Between the attacks targeting businesses and consumers, total Australian losses to deepfake scams are already in the tens of millions of dollars, MasterCard said. But despite the risks, 19% of Australians admit to not taking any measures to protect themselves and family members against deepfake scams.

As well as fraud activity, 18% of Australians reported seeing manipulated videos or images of high-profile individuals such as Donald Trump and Kamala Harris online over the last year.

The deepfake activity is eroding trust in digital platforms. The research found that 60% of Australians are less trusting of social media, 47% are less trusting of phone calls and 46% are less trusting of messaging services than they were a year ago.

MasterCard VP for Security Solutions Mallika Sathi said these figures may only be the tip of the iceberg, as many scam victims are not even aware they have been targeted.

“Generative AI technology, while offering incredible potential, can be harnessed in both beneficial and concerning ways. Increasingly we see it is being used to manipulate consumers and businesses out of money in the form of scams involving deepfakes,” she said. “As deepfakes can be utilised in many different types of scams, including video, images and audio, we encourage Australians to remain informed, vigilant and educated as the threat increases with the development of AI technology.”

Image credit: iStock.com/Tero Vesalainen