In today’s fast-paced digital world, fraudsters are becoming more sophisticated, finding creative ways to bypass security measures and wreak havoc on businesses. One of the most alarming tactics on the rise is the use of deepfakes to exploit call centers, a growing concern across industries. During a recent webinar hosted by Pindrop, Detecting Deepfakes: How to Combat Fraud, Samy Kamkar, an ethical hacker and co-founder of Openpath Security, shared valuable insights into how fraudsters might operate, emerging fraud trends and the steps businesses can take to safeguard themselves. He was joined by Yves Boudreau, Head of Customer Engineering at Google Cloud, and Amit Gupta, VP of Product Management, Research and Engineering at Pindrop, who also had insightful learnings to share.

The rising threat of fraud: what’s happening in the news?

Deepfakes have been making headlines, particularly in the context of the 2024 election, where even high-profile figures like Taylor Swift have expressed concerns about their dangers. With advanced AI technology, fraudsters can manipulate images, audio, and video to deceive businesses and individuals. Public figures aren’t the only ones under threat—businesses are susceptible to AI-generated fraud within their call centers, too. 

During the webinar, an astonishing 87% of attendees expressed their top concern in their call centers as deepfakes. Call centers are entry points for customer interaction and prime targets for fraudsters, who can use tactics like deepfake audio to infiltrate systems with ease and accuracy.

How do fraudsters target call centers?

Boudreau explained on the webinar that fraudsters are all about profit. They continually search for vulnerabilities in business systems, especially in companies that haven’t invested in knowing their customers well. Unfortunately, many businesses still fall into this category, providing a window of opportunity for fraudsters.

Here’s how fraudsters typically attack contact centers:

Step 1—Identifying business vulnerabilities

They look for weak spots in call center security, particularly in businesses with poor customer verification processes.

Step 2—Exploiting weak systems

Fraudsters often work in consortiums, sharing information on vulnerable companies. These groups are adept at spotting systems with outdated security measures and profiting from those weaknesses.

Step 3—Weaponizing IVRs

Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems, meant to streamline customer service, are now being weaponized. Fraudsters can use synthetic voices and deepfake technology to mimic legitimate customers, allowing them to bypass basic security checks and access sensitive information.

The growing concerns around deepfake technology

Gupta provided a detailed breakdown of how deepfakes are becoming increasingly sophisticated and challenging to detect. Fraudsters can now:

• Concatenate clips: Combine different clips from existing audio or video to create convincing fake communications.
• Remove background noise: With AI, they can eliminate background noise from recordings, making it even harder to identify the fake.
• Modulate voice frequencies: Fraudsters can tweak the frequency of their voice recordings to make them sound like someone else, often mimicking legitimate customers or employees.

What’s next for businesses to protect against fraud in the coming year?

The threat is clear: deepfakes are infiltrating call centers, and it’s up to businesses to stay ahead of the curve. As Kamkar pointed out, fraudsters quickly share information when they find exploitable systems, making it more important than ever for businesses to update their defenses. 

To help detect these emerging threats, companies will need to implement robust security protocols, including:

• Better customer verification: Equip call centers with advanced technology, such as voice biometrics, to authenticate customers. 
• Continuous monitoring: Regularly assess and update security measures to help stay ahead of new fraud tactics.
• Employee training: Equip call center staff with the tools and knowledge to detect deepfakes and suspicious activity.

As the rise of deepfake technology continues, businesses must adapt. While fraudsters always find new ways to exploit vulnerabilities, companies can fight back by staying informed and proactive. Schedule a demo today to see how Pindrop^® Protect can help your company detect deepfake fraud.