Deepfake Video Call from a Boss or Colleague Asking for a Transfer through an app

How it looks through an app, the red flags and what to do.

Scam apps pretend to be a bank, a loan service, a game, a government service or a "support tool", and they ask for access to SMS, contacts, the screen or accessibility. Deepfake Video Call from a Boss or Colleague Asking for a Transfer is one of the ways this shows up: A video call shows your manager or a senior colleague asking for an urgent payment. The face may be generated by AI. Learn how to verify first.

What deepfake video call from a boss or colleague asking for a transfer looks like through an app

• A loan app that asks for contacts and photos.
• A "KYC", "challan" or "bank rewards" app from a link.
• An .apk file sent on WhatsApp or by SMS.

The scammer studies the company through public sites and social profiles: who the boss is, who handles accounts and how they speak. He gathers photos and video clips of the boss from events and interviews. A first message on WhatsApp or email, sent from a new number or a copy of the boss's address, asks the employee to be available for an urgent, confidential payment and then requests a short video call.

Red flags to check on the app

• A senior person contacts you from a new number or an unusual channel.
• The payment is urgent, confidential and outside the normal approval process.
• The video is short, poor in quality or avoids questions and natural movement.
• You are told not to call back or consult anyone.
• You were told to install it by a stranger or a caller.
• It has few or odd reviews, or a name with spelling changes.

What to do

1. End the call and contact the person on a number you already know, or in person.
2. Follow your company's normal approval process for any payment.
3. Ask a question that only the real person could answer, or ask for a callback on the official line.
4. Open Settings and check Accessibility, Device admin apps and Install unknown apps for anything you do not recognise.
5. Change the passwords of your bank and email from a clean device if the app had access.
6. Run a phone scan (Safeavio Sentinel lists risky apps and settings).

Report the fake app to the store it came from and, if money moved, call 1930 and report at cybercrime.gov.in.

If money or a code is already gone

1. Inform your bank and your company's finance head at once.
2. Call 1930 and report at cybercrime.gov.in with the payment details.
3. Ask your bank to contact the receiving bank about the transfer.
4. Preserve all messages, call logs and recordings for the investigation.

National Cyber Crime Helpline: 1930; report at cybercrime.gov.in.

Safeavio Sentinel cannot analyse live video to say whether a face is real. You can paste the messages into Scam check to see the reasons they look risky, such as urgency and secrecy, and use Money Shield's 'Verify before you pay' checklist before you transfer money. Trusted contacts and a code word help you confirm identity another way. Safeavio cannot recover a payment already made.

Full guide: Deepfake Video Call from a Boss or Colleague Asking for a Transfer: how it works, signs and what to do. Other channels: WhatsApp, phone call, email.

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