The phone rings. It's your office manager, and she needs a payment approved right now. Except she isn't on the call — a synthetic copy of her voice is.
That's where fraud is in 2026. In the FBI's 2025 Internet Crime Report, AI-enabled scams got their own category for the first time: 22,364 complaints in a single year. In a 2026 survey of small and mid-size business owners, 29% said they had already hit a deepfake scam in the previous year.
Here is the part most people miss: the raw material is already out there. A voicemail greeting. A clip from a Facebook video. A few seconds of audio is enough to produce a voice that sounds right on a phone call.
And the ask always comes with urgency — plus a reason you can't check with anyone else.
The email usually comes first. Then the call that "confirms" it.
What actually stops this
- Verify on a number you already have. Hang up and dial the person from your own records, never the number they gave you on the call. - Agree on a code word or a verification question for money and credentials. A clone knows the voice, not your history. - Two people approve anything over a set amount. One person's phone call is not an approval. - Treat urgency as the red flag, not the reason to hurry. The FBI's own advice: resist pressure to act quickly and assess the situation. - Train everyone, not just the front desk. Whoever answers the phone is the one who gets the call.
Want a real test for your team? Our free Phishing IQ Test walks through 10 real scenarios — some scams, some legitimate — and shows you exactly what gave each one away. No email required, no signup: globaltss.com/phishing-iq-test. Share your score and find out who in the office can actually spot the fake.
Want the same walk-through for your whole staff, or a look at what your phone and email setup is missing? Call us at (906) 662-4481, or contact us for a free assessment. We're in Marquette, and we answer our own phone.