We are living in an era of unprecedented digital trickery

BY SIMONE J. SMITH

The phone rings, and you see that it is your son video calling you. He has been away at school, so getting a call from him randomly is not unusual.

“Hey, mom! Guess what? I’m in Montreal! It’s totally spontaneous. I came to visit some friends that I know here.”

“Montreal?” You say surprised. “Delroy, you never mentioned this!”

“Yeah, it was super last minute. Listen, something kinda weird happened. I lost my wallet, and my phone’s about to die.”

“Oh, no! D, are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, but I need a little help. Could you send me some money? Just enough to get me a new phone charger and a ticket back. It’s urgent. I’ll pay you back as soon as I get home.”

“Of course, darling. How much do you need?”

 “Just a few hundred. I’ll send you the details in a message.”

You nod, but you are concerned. You open up your messaging app, when suddenly, your phone rings again. It’s Delroy.

“I was just about to message you again. Are you okay?”

“Question everything, verify sources, and remain acutely aware that the digital landscape is a minefield of potential deception.”

Delroy answers confused. “Am I okay? What are you talking about, mom? I’m at the library, studying for finals. I didn’t call you.”

“But… you were in Montreal. You said you lost your wallet.”

“Montreal? Mom, I haven’t left the province! Are you sure you’re feeling alright?”

“Oh, D… I think someone is trying to trick me”

“Seriously?”

“Yes! It looked and sounded just like you. They even said they needed money. I was about to send it!”

“Wow, Mom. That’s… that’s crazy. You’re usually so careful online.”

“I thought I was! It was so convincing.”

“It can happen to anyone. Even me, if I’m honest. These things are getting way too good. You just proved that.”

You shake your head and look at the tablet with a new sense of unease. “I’m going to have to be so much more careful now. This is frightening.”

Deepfakes have been surging in a number of forms since early 2023, though the inception of the application goes back several years before ChatGPT went live, and indeed, fraud numbers — especially scam-related fraud — have been spiking significantly since 2023. iProov identified a 704% increase in face-swapping in 2024 alone.

What generative AI has enabled on this front is the widespread democratization of technology that has, in turn, enabled the targeted harassment of women and girls — celebrities and high school teens alike — through a surge in non-consensual deepfake pornography; we’ve also seen surges both in political and other forms of misinformation alongside a massive increase in fraud, spanning everything from faked video calls and stolen company assets, to fake phone calls demanding ransom payments.

When it comes to cybersecurity, considering that right now the entire world is built on the back of digital technology, the implications of this proliferation — and peoples’ inability to recognize it — is significant.

A new study out of biometric cybersecurity firm iProov found that an overwhelming majority of people are incapable of accurately distinguishing real images and videos from AI-generated deepfakes, and it’s a problem.

The study tested a cohort of 2,000 U.S. and U.K.-based consumers, exposing them to a string of real and deepfake content. Only 0.1% of participants were able to correctly distinguish all the real and deepfake content.

Before the study, only 22% of participants knew what deepfakes even were; still, more than 60% of them were confident in their abilities to discern reality from AI generations, an indication, according to iProov, of dangerous overconfidence.

The study additionally found both that synthetic videos are significantly harder for people to detect than synthetic images, and that older populations are much more vulnerable to deepfakes.

The solution to the problem involves policy and regulation, at least in part, but it also involves a broad shift in mindset to a place of zero-trust in digital technologies, alongside the creation of technological shields.

In an age where digital manipulation blurs the lines of reality, vigilance is no longer optional—it’s essential. The pervasive threat of fraudsters, coupled with the unsettling rise of deepfakes, demands a heightened sense of skepticism. We can no longer afford to passively consume information; every online interaction, every shared video, every seemingly authentic message must be scrutinized.

Question everything, verify sources, and remain acutely aware that the digital landscape is a minefield of potential deception. Your digital safety hinges on your ability to discern truth from fabrication, so proceed with caution, and let your critical thinking be your strongest defense in this era of unprecedented digital trickery.