Federal law enforcement and industry groups have warned of rising scams that use AI‑generated audio and video to impersonate officials, corporate leaders and loved ones to coerce payments. Advisories stress multi‑factor verification and reporting to the FBI and FTC to counter evolving deepfake‑enabled frauds.

U.S. federal agencies, including the FBI, together with banking industry groups, have renewed warnings about a growing wave of frauds that exploit AI‑generated deepfakes and voice‑cloning to impersonate public officials, corporate executives and family members. Recent advisories document cases where synthetic audio and manipulated video were used to establish trust and urgency, enabling attackers to convince victims to authorize wire or cryptocurrency transfers, disclose sensitive credentials, or comply with fabricated emergency demands such as virtual kidnappings. Industry writeups and government alerts emphasize that deepfakes lower the barrier to high‑impact social engineering by convincingly mimicking tone, cadence and appearance. Recommended mitigations include instituting multi‑factor and out‑of‑band verification for high‑risk transactions, improving employee and consumer awareness, preserving digital evidence for forensic analysis, and promptly reporting incidents to the FBI and FTC to support coordinated response and disruption. Authorities warn that the technology’s accessibility will likely broaden the scope and scale of scams unless detection and verification practices are widely adopted.