Experts warn of little-known financial fraud that could cost you £595

EXPERTS are warning of a rise in AI deepfake financial fraud that could cost you an average of £595.

The technology has reached a terrifying milestone: voice cloning now requires just 3-5 seconds of audio to create a convincing voice with 85% accuracy. 

Facial manipulations are now so refined that 68% of video deepfakes can't be told apart from real footage.

Financial losses from deepfake-enabled fraud exceeded £150 million during the first quarter of 2025 alone. 

A total of 26% of UK residents received voice deepfake calls in the last 12 months, with 40% of those targeted reporting being scammed, 35% losing money, and 32% having personal information stolen. 

The average successful fraudulent call costs British victims £595.

Colette Mason, Author & AI Solution Architect at London-based Clever Clogs AI, warned of the rise of deepfakes in business.

She said: "We've spent 15 years telling business people and the wider public to increase their visibility, and now we're shocked that scammers can scrape that content to create convincing deepfakes in under an hour. 

"The question isn't whether your clients will be targeted, it's whether your firm has verification systems that work when seeing and hearing are no longer believing."

Mitali Deypurkaystha, Human-First AI Strategist & Author at Newcastle upon Tyne-based Impact Icon AI, said AI fraud is a growing problem.

She added: "For years we’ve encouraged even the shyest business owners to go online, be authentic and be visible. Now that very visibility is being weaponised against them. It’s deeply unfair to tell people to build trust in public, only to abandon them when that trust is exploited by fraudsters. 

"The truth is, even before AI fraud, we've had a reimbursement lottery. Two victims can fall for the exact same scam and yet one is repaid while the other is left financially shattered, depending on who they bank with. That’s not protection; that’s chance. As AI creates ever more sophisticated scams, consumers deserve consistency and care. 

“However, financial services should not bear this burden alone. The tech and telecoms sectors host the very platforms where much of this fraud originates, yet currently bear zero responsibility for reimbursing victims. That has to change. They too have an obligation to safeguard users. Until all sectors are jointly liable, victims will continue to be left high and dry.”

Dariusz Karpowicz, Director at Doncaster-based Albion Financial Advice, urged people to hang up on scams.

He continued: “Your face is now a fraudster's favourite weapon, and hanging up might be your best defence. When someone calls demanding urgent money transfers, even if they look and sound exactly like your loved one, treat urgency as the biggest red flag. 

"The solution is brutally simple: establish family safe words, hang up on urgent requests, and call back using saved numbers. For advisers, this means logging every verification check and conducting digital vulnerability audits for high-net-worth clients. The technology outpaces our defences daily, but robust human oversight and practical protocols can still outsmart even the cleverest AI con artist.”

Philly Ponniah, Chartered Wealth Manager and Financial Coach at Philly Financial, gave some advice on how to avoid scams.

She said: "When speaking to an older client, keep it calm and practical. Explain that if a call feels urgent, it’s a red flag - the safest thing to do is hang up, call back using the number already saved in their phone, and ask for the family’s agreed safe word. If there is no safe word, no transfer goes ahead. 

"From a compliance perspective, deepfake scams are now a foreseeable risk. If firms fail to use robust verification processes, they could face regulatory scrutiny or even liability. Every check should be logged and auditable. For high-net-worth clients, digital vulnerability audits should become routine - this could be reviewing online footprints, tightening privacy settings and setting up safe words. 

“It’s not just older clients at risk though, as deepfakes are so convincing that even the most tech-savvy people can be duped, which is why every client, regardless of age, now needs protection protocols built into how they move and manage money.”

Samuel Mather-Holgate, Independent Financial Adviser at Swindon-based Mather and Murray Financial, said financial institutions need to step up.

He continued: "As technology improves, the way banks protect your money needs to keep up. Things have improved over the last 20 years, but the rate of technical change is exponential. 

“Clients need to take account of their own funds and use some common sense. Fraudsters usually expose weaknesses in personal defences, so although the bank will have your bank it’s important for customers not to allow a way in.”

Patricia McGirr, Founder at Burnley-based Repossession Rescue Network, agreed, adding: “Deepfake fraud isn’t a tech issue, it’s a trust crisis that businesses need to address. AI scams are no longer crude imitations; they are precision-engineered deceptions that can fool anyone, from CEOs to grandparents. When a cloned voice or face can empty an account in minutes, the argument for stronger human oversight becomes unshakeable. 

"Financial institutions and advisers must wake up to the new front line of fraud. It’s not the client who’s careless; it’s often the system that’s complacent. If your processes can’t tell real from fake, they’re not secure; they’re a liability to you and your customers.”