When You Can't Trust the Voice on the Phone.
A familiar voice on the phone is no longer reliable proof that the caller is who they claim to be.
Advances in artificial intelligence now allow fraudsters to create realistic voice clones, fabricated videos and highly personalized messages that appear to come from family members, attorneys, household staff or other trusted contacts.
According to a Gartner survey conducted in 2025, 62% of organizations had experienced a deepfake attack. A separate 2026 Gartner survey found that 36% of cybersecurity leaders reported at least one deepfake-related incident during employee video calls.
The risk is especially acute for high-net-worth individuals because their financial lives often involve multiple accounts, employees and organizations. Criminals no longer need to defeat sophisticated cybersecurity systems if they can convince a trusted assistant to authorize a wire transfer or persuade a family member that a loved one is facing an emergency.
Public business biographies, charitable activities, social media posts and records can give criminals personal details that make an impersonation more believable. Modern AI tools can turn this information into convincing impersonation campaigns that may be difficult to distinguish from legitimate communications.
The practical lesson is to verify the person making a request—not just the phone number, email address or image that appears on a screen.
Here are some steps you can take to help lower the risk:
- Verify the person making a request—not just the phone number, email address or image that appears on a screen
- Create a family "safe word" or authentication phrase for emergency situations.
- For an unexpected request, call the person back using a number you already know or verify through another independent channel before acting.
- Require multiple approvals for large wire transfers or account changes.
- Use multi-factor authentication and passkeys wherever available.
- Review cybersecurity and fraud-prevention procedures with financial advisors, attorneys and family-office personnel at least annually.