Cyber pros spooked by deepfake statistics: fraudsters evolving at warp speed

Defenders are seeing a dramatic escalation of AI-powered fraud and deepfakes.

Deepfake fraud attempts rose by over 1,300% in 2024, Pindrop, a voice authentication firm, has found. The company provides secure authentication of inbound and outbound calls for finance, retail, and insurance industries, among others.

"Deepfakes, synthetic voice tech, and AI-driven scams are reshaping the fraud landscape. The numbers are staggering, and the tactics are growing more sophisticated by the day," Vijay Balasubramaniyan, CEO and co-founder of Pindrop, is quoted in a press release.

The company analyzed over 1.2 billion customer calls and found a +475% increase in synthetic voice attacks at insurance companies. Banks and retail industries are also among the most affected, with fraudulent calls often involving personally identifiable information.

As per the report, attacks are getting increasingly sophisticated. Attackers heavily rely on AI tools and spoofing-as-a-service platforms, and they educate themselves by watching dark web tutorials on how to bypass traditional defences.

Another growing trend is deepfake job candidates using AI-generated voices to deceive recruiters during remote interviews.

Looking ahead, here’s what Pindrop forecasts for 2025:

• Deepfaked calls will increase by 155%
• Deepfake-related fraud will grow by 162%
• Retail fraud is projected to more than double
• Contact centers could face $44.5B in fraud exposure in 2025