Scam and deepfake training · Kent or video
Scam and deepfake training for the people who handle your money
Criminals now use AI to write convincing emails, imitate a director's voice and even fake a video call. This 90-minute session shows your staff how those tricks work, using real reported cases, and finishes with a written payment-check rule your business can adopt the same day. The aim is calm habits, not fear.
£295
Based in Kent, working with businesses across the UK: on site in Kent, by video anywhere else.
What the UK figures show
UK Finance's Annual Fraud Report 2026, covering 2025, shows what reaches businesses. Authorised push payment fraud on business accounts, where staff are tricked into sending money themselves, cost £75.6m across 7,504 cases. Across all accounts, two scam types aimed squarely at firms stand out:
- Invoice and mandate scams, where a 'supplier' asks to be paid into a new account, cost £41.3m across 2,305 cases, and only 48% of that money was returned.
- CEO fraud, where someone poses as a boss and asks for an urgent payment, had just 197 cases, but the highest average loss of any scam type: just over £28,000 each.
There's encouraging news in the same report. Invoice and mandate cases were the lowest ever reported, and CEO fraud fell to its lowest case total. The report also says criminals are using AI to make impersonation scams more convincing. We've pulled the wider numbers together in how many scams use AI.
The tricks the session covers
Voice
Cloned voices
In a case reported by the Wall Street Journal in 2019, fraudsters used AI to mimic the voice of a German parent company's chief executive and got the head of its UK subsidiary to transfer €220,000.
Video
Deepfake video calls
In January 2024 a finance worker at Arup's Hong Kong office made 15 transfers totalling HK$200 million (about US$25m, roughly £20m at the time) after a video call where the 'CFO' and colleagues were deepfakes; police described it in February 2024 and Arup confirmed it in May 2024.
AI-written phishing
Bad spelling used to give scam emails away. AI writes fluent, polite English, so staff need to judge what's being asked, not how it's written.
Payments
Fake bank-detail changes
An email from a real supplier's account, or an address one letter different, says their bank details have changed. The invoice looks genuine; only the account number is the criminal's.
Reviews
Fake reviews
AI makes fake reviews cheap to churn out. They're banned under the DMCC Act, and firms that publish reviews must take steps to stop and remove them. Staff should know never to buy or write them.
The rule your staff leave with
Before changing anyone's bank details, or making a payment that is urgent or unusual, call back on a number we already hold. Never use a number, link or contact given in the message itself.
We write this up for your business in plain words, with names: who checks, who signs off, and the amount above which two people must agree. It fits on one page, to keep by the phone and the banking login. It can also go into a wider AI policy if you have one.
Why a question beats a deepfake detector
Staff can't be expected to spot a good fake by looking or listening. What works is a checking habit that doesn't depend on spotting anything. In July 2024, an executive at Ferrari received WhatsApp messages from an unknown number, then a call from someone imitating the chief executive's voice about a confidential deal. He asked which book the chief executive had recently recommended, and the attempt was foiled.
The session gives your team the same tools: a call-back on a known number, a question only the real person could answer, and permission to slow down even when the 'boss' insists it's urgent. There's more on how these scams are built in how criminals are using AI.
How the 90 minutes runs
- How the tricks workShort, plain explanations of voice cloning, deepfake video and AI-written messages, using the reported cases above.
- Judging the requestSample messages written for the session, shaped around your kind of business, to practise spotting what's really being asked.
- Your payment processWe trace how money actually leaves your business and find the points where one call or email could redirect it.
- The ruleWe agree the wording of your payment-check rule together, including who can approve what.
- If the worst happensWhat to do in the first hour: ring the bank, report it and keep the evidence.
Questions people ask
What is CEO fraud?
A scam where a criminal poses as a director or senior manager and asks a member of staff to make an urgent, often secret, payment. UK Finance recorded 197 cases in 2025, with an average loss of just over £28,000.
What is mandate fraud?
A criminal pretends to be a supplier or someone you pay regularly and asks you to change the bank details you hold for them. Future payments then go to the criminal.
Can staff learn to spot a deepfake video call?
Sometimes, but it's unwise to rely on that, because the fakes keep improving. The session concentrates on checks that work however good the fake is, such as calling back on a known number.
Will the bank refund money lost to a scam?
It depends. The mandatory reimbursement scheme covers payments from personal, micro-business and charity accounts, up to £85,000 per claim. Businesses bigger than a micro-business fall outside it, which makes prevention matter more.
Where do we report a scam?
Ring your bank straight away, then report it to Report Fraud at reportfraud.police.uk or on 0300 123 2040 (in Scotland, Police Scotland on 101). Forward scam emails to report@phishing.gov.uk and scam texts to 7726.
How often should staff have scam awareness training?
There's no legal timetable. A sensible pattern is to brief new starters, especially anyone who handles payments, and run a short refresher when the scams change.
Who you'll work with
James Hayes Consulting is led by Ross Hayes, who builds software for his own businesses and uses AI tools in them every day. We set AI up on your real work, explain it in plain English, and tell you straight if something isn’t worth paying for.
Every project starts with a free 15-minute call, and prices are agreed in writing before you commit.
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