Deepfake Video Call from a Boss or Colleague Asking for a Transfer over the phone

How it looks over the phone, the red flags and what to do.

On a call the pressure is live: no time to read, no time to check, and a rule that you must not tell anyone. 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 over the phone

• Instructions to install a screen-sharing app or to press keys on the phone.
• A second "senior officer" who takes over the call.
• An unknown or international number, or a number that looks like a real office.

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 phone call

• 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 are told to keep the call secret.
• The caller wants you to install an app to "fix" something.

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. Never share an OTP or PIN. No genuine staff member needs it.
5. If you already installed an app on the call, uninstall it and switch on airplane mode, then call your bank at once.
6. Tell a family member and report the number on the Sanchar Saathi portal (Chakshu facility).

Report the number on the Sanchar Saathi portal (Chakshu facility). If money moved, call 1930 immediately.

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, email, fake app.

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