In 2019, the CEO of an energy company in the UK was duped via a deepfake voice impersonating the CEO of the parent company in Germany, leading to the payment almost 220,000 euros to cybercriminals. In a similar case, in 2024, an employee in the accounting department of a multinational company became the victim of a video call deepfake, causing his company to lose US$25 million.

The above incidents demonstrate the growing threat of deepfakes in the security sector, and with modern voice cloning and translation capabilities offered by artificial intelligence, this threat has become easier than ever. Using deepfakes often involves collecting basic personal information, such as a person’s phone number.

The team at global security software company ESET gives advice on protecting our phone number:

  1. Beware of phishing. Never answer spam/calls from unknown numbers, don’t click on random links in your emails/messages and remember to keep your cool and think before reacting to a seemingly urgent situation, because that’s how they trap you.
  2. Ask your carrier about SIM security measures. They may, for example, have an option to lock the card to protect against SIM Swapping, or additional layers of account security to prevent fraud such as call forwarding.
  3. Protect your accounts with two-factor authentication, ideally using dedicated security keys, apps or biometrics instead of SMS verification.
  4. Think twice before giving your phone number to a website. While using it as an additional recovery option for your various apps can be useful, other methods, such as secondary emails/authenticators, could provide a more secure alternative.
  5. For online shopping, consider using a prepaid SIM card or VoIP service instead of your regular phone number.
  6. Use a reliable mobile security solution with call filtering and make sure third-party cookies in your browser are blocked. Explore other privacy-enhancing tools and technologies.