Handoff

How to spot fake AI videos and voice scams aimed at your small business

The voice sounds like someone you pay, and the video looks like a real customer. Here is the check before money moves.

Tyler Calderwood, updated October 2026

The caller sounds like your supplier and wants an e-transfer before you can think. A video looks like a customer who never walked in. Here is how to spot fake AI videos and voice scams before they cost a small business a real payment.

The short answer: Hang up and call back on a number you already had, before any e-transfer goes out. Use a private code word with anyone who can move the business’s money. A realistic AI voice or video is not proof, so check the source yourself.

The facts below are from Government of Canada pages, checked on 23 October 2026.

What does a fake invoice call sound like?

Someone who sounds like the owner, the bookkeeper, or a supplier asks you to pay an invoice now, or to send the next payment to a new account.

The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security’s guide to malicious email, January 2026, says an unusual request can be an instruction to pay an overdue invoice, and that urgent language is a clue. Poor spelling is no longer reliable when generative AI wrote the message. Its social engineering guide, July 2026, calls this business email compromise: a person impersonates a leader, a colleague, or a business partner so you will transfer funds or change payment details.

The fix is a rule you set before the phone rings. The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre’s payment bulletin tells business owners to use verbal authentication for any urgent request or any change in payment details. You do not pay from the call, and you do not pay from the link.

How do you spot a cloned voice asking for an e-transfer?

The voice copies someone you know. The ask is an e-transfer, a one-time code, or a promise to keep it quiet.

The Anti-Fraud Centre’s October 2026 page, Spotting fraud in a changing digital landscape, says AI can imitate the voice of someone you know, and can create or alter images and videos. A result that looks real is not proof. Caller ID can be manipulated. Warning signs include a known person using a new number to ask for money, pressure to act now, and a request to keep it secret.

The Cyber Centre’s July 2026 guide says a clone can start from a small audio sample, and that audio alone is not proof. Confirm the request on a second channel. The 23 June 2025 advisory describes this pattern against executives and senior officials, not as a local tally, and lists a flat tone, odd noise, or choppy sentences as reasons to stop. Get Cyber Safe’s vishing page, modified 21 November 2023, says not to use callback or a number the caller gives you. The payment bulletin says criminals both request e-transfers and send fake e-transfer messages.

The fix: hang up, then call the number on your last real invoice or in your contacts. If that person did not ask for the transfer, do not send it.

How do you check a fake AI video?

A clip can look like a customer, or like a public figure telling people to pay. The October 2026 page says videos can be altered, and that a poor image is no longer a reliable clue. Get Cyber Safe’s page on new technology says fake video of this kind shows up most often in investment and merchandise fraud, including a celebrity endorsement.

The June 2025 advisory says to watch for unnatural movement, mismatched sound, or odd lighting. Then check who posted it and call. If it claims to be a customer, use the number in your booking book before you refund, reply in public, or pay anyone to take it down. What stays out of a tool is in Is ChatGPT safe for my customers’ information?.

What is the call-back rule?

  1. If the call asks for money, a new account, a password, or a one-time code, hang up. Get Cyber Safe says to look up the number and place the call yourself.
  2. Do not use callback, or the number in the email or voicemail.
  3. Use a number you already had: the last invoice, your contacts, or the site you typed yourself.
  4. Ask, “Did you just call about an invoice?” If the answer is no, stop.

The same rule covers every business. The incoming call does not get to choose the number you trust.

What is a code word for?

Verbal authentication is the Anti-Fraud Centre’s instruction for an urgent payment or a changed account. A code word is that check. Pick it with the people who can move money, and keep it off the website and public posts. The October 2026 page says public details make a fake approach personal. Ask for the word on a call you placed. If they will not say it, hang up and use your own number. The real supplier still gets paid.

How do you check the source before anyone gets paid?

Read the address, not the display name. The January 2026 guide says it should match the one you already use. Do not click the link. Type the site yourself, and open the account behind a video before you reply. A short public clip of your voice is enough for the cloning the Cyber Centre describes. Once payments are checked this way, the first useful AI job is still one weekly task. How to start using AI in your small business, without feeling behind walks through it.

What do you do if the money already moved?

Follow What to do if you’re a victim of fraud. If anyone is in immediate danger, call 911. Keep the emails, call the financial institution that sent the money, and report it to local police. Then call the Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501, Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Eastern time, or report online. Do not send more money to someone who offers to recover the first amount. The page says that second approach is common.

What if you want this practised at your desk?

If you want the call-back rule and a code word set up against your real supplier list, that is a good use of the free hour. Handoff comes to the desk where the phone rings. You leave with one habit the next caller has to get past. There are no dumb questions.

What a useful free hour includes, and the signs it is only a pitch, is in What a free AI assessment should include, and the red flags. The local page is AI help for small businesses near you.

Book your free hour.

Questions owners ask

How do I spot a fake AI voice asking for an e-transfer?

Do not trust the voice or the caller ID. Hang up and call the person on a number you already had. The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre says a realistic voice is not proof, and that caller ID can be manipulated.

What is the call-back rule for a small business?

If a call or email asks for money or a payment change, hang up. Call back using a number from your own records, or from the organization’s site that you looked up yourself. Do not use the number in the message.

What is a code word for?

It is a private word for anyone who can move the business’s money. Ask for it on a call you placed, before an e-transfer or a new bank account. The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre tells business owners to use verbal authentication for urgent payment changes.

How do I check a video that looks like a customer review?

A realistic video can be created or altered. Look for unnatural movement, mismatched sound, or odd lighting, then check who posted it. Call the customer on a number you already have before you pay, refund, or reply in public.

Who do I call if the business already sent money?

Call the financial institution that sent it, then your local police. Report it to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501, Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Eastern time. Do not send more money to someone offering to get it back.

Sources

Checked 23 October 2026, except where the page gives its own date.