VUMC Enterprise Cybersecurity wants employees to be aware of a new workplace scam that uses deepfake video of a colleague or supervisor to trick a person into revealing sensitive information, such as a password or code, or to complete an act of financial fraud.
A deepfake is an AI-generated video, image or other graphic in which visuals such as a person’s face, body or voice has been digitally created or altered, typically for malicious purposes.
For this scam, an employee might receive a text or an email that appears to be from a colleague or leader in their organization, which links to a video that appears as a Teams or Zoom call. On the call, the “leader” asks the recipient of the call, very urgently, to provide sensitive information or complete a financial transaction.
With advancements in AI, deepfake videos of people are now incredibly realistic. The video, even though it is fake, appears genuine, and the “leader” urges quick action.
Often scammers don’t want anyone to have time to think or to check out the information. Creating a sense of crisis is part of the scam.
Anyone receiving such a request by video should immediately and independently verify with the person in the video that the request is real.
The safety and security of VUMC’s workplace relies on verifying all sensitive requests for information.
Anyone receiving an attempted scam text, email or video should report it to phishing@vumc.org.
