Deepfake Check: how to tell if a video call, voice or image is fake
Guided checklist for video calls, voice messages, images and texts, verification steps, free tools and a private in-browser image metadata and Content Credentials inspector.
Video call or clip
- Asks for money, instant payment, crypto or gift cards — Most deepfakes used in scams aim at a transfer.
- Urgency: it has to be now — Pressure stops you from checking through another channel.
- Asks for secrecy or not to tell anyone — Secrecy isolates you from people who could spot the scam.
- Comes from a new or unknown number, profile or account — 'I changed my number' is the classic opening.
- Avoids or delays a callback or meeting — The real person accepts being verified.
- Mouth out of sync with the voice — Helpful, but newer models sync well: its absence proves nothing.
- Blurry or flickering edges around face, hair or glasses — Visual artifacts are increasingly unreliable as proof.
- Tight framing, low quality or 'my camera is acting up' — Low quality hides manipulation flaws.
- Meeting with 'several people' where only one talks to you — Scams have used entire meetings with fake participants.
Phone call or voice note
- Asks for money, instant payment, crypto or gift cards — Most deepfakes used in scams aim at a transfer.
- Urgency: it has to be now — Pressure stops you from checking through another channel.
- Asks for secrecy or not to tell anyone — Secrecy isolates you from people who could spot the scam.
- Comes from a new or unknown number, profile or account — 'I changed my number' is the classic opening.
- Avoids or delays a callback or meeting — The real person accepts being verified.
- Right tone of voice but flat intonation or odd pauses — A few seconds of public audio can be enough to clone a voice.
- Crying, shouting or claiming to be threatened — Strong emotion keeps you from thinking. The FTC warns about 'family emergency' scams with cloned voices.
- Can't answer a simple personal question — Ask something only the real person would know and that isn't online.
- Artificial background noise or a call that drops when you ask questions — A weak signal, never proof on its own.
Image or document
- Receipt, ID or photo sent as proof of payment or identity — Images are easy to fabricate; check your statement or the source.
- Distorted hands, teeth, text or logos — Still shows up in generated images but is disappearing in newer tools.
- Inconsistent lighting and shadows — A hint, not proof.
- Reverse search shows the image in another context or date — A real photo used out of context misleads as much as a generated one.
- No Content Credentials where the source says it uses them — Missing credentials don't prove forgery, but valid ones help confirm origin.
- Image used to ask for money, investment or data — Celebrities and executives 'endorsing' investments are a common scam pattern.
- Came from an unknown profile or ad — Check the person's or company's official channel.
Text message
- Asks for money, instant payment, crypto or gift cards — Most deepfakes used in scams aim at a transfer.
- Urgency: it has to be now — Pressure stops you from checking through another channel.
- Asks for secrecy or not to tell anyone — Secrecy isolates you from people who could spot the scam.
- Comes from a new or unknown number, profile or account — 'I changed my number' is the classic opening.
- Avoids or delays a callback or meeting — The real person accepts being verified.
- Claims to be an official, boss or relative and moves you to another app — The FBI warned of voice and text scams imitating senior officials that move the conversation to another platform.
- Link to 'confirm', 'release' or 'update' something — Type the official address yourself instead of clicking.
- Typos or a tone unlike usual — With AI texts are clean; an unusual tone can still give it away.
- Asks for a code, password or token — No legitimate party asks for a code you received by text.
- Hang up and call back — Use a number you already had, never the one in the call or message.
- Use the code word — Agreed in person with family and staff; whoever doesn't know it isn't who they claim.
- Ask a personal question — Something not on social media or in data leaks.
- Ask for a gesture on video — Turning the head sideways or passing a hand in front can expose flaws, but newer tools resist it: use as a complement, not proof.
- Confirm with someone else — Talk to a colleague, relative or the security team before acting.
- Check Content Credentials — Upload the image or video to the C2PA verifier to see origin and edits, when present.
- Run a reverse image search — See whether the photo circulated before, in another context.
- When in doubt, don't pay — No real emergency disappears because you took 10 minutes to check.