On 19 October 2026, INTERPOL started a public campaign about scams that use AI-generated faces and voices. The campaign has three short videos. Each one shows a call or a message from a person the viewer trusts, and each one ends with the same question: real, or a deepfake?
Pressing play loads the video from YouTube (Google). Google then receives your IP address. Privacy policy
What INTERPOL tells families to do
INTERPOL's advice to individuals is short: stay sceptical, verify every request through a channel you already know, turn on two-factor authentication, and agree on a family safe word.
The safe word is the right idea. A copied voice can sound exactly like your daughter. It cannot know a word that only your family knows.
Where a fixed safe word fails
A safe word that never changes has one weakness: once it is out, it stays out.
- It is said aloud on a call that someone else can hear or record.
- It is written in a family chat, and that account is taken over.
- It is given away once, under pressure, to a caller who sounds right.
After that, the word protects nobody, and nobody knows that it is lost. The next call with the correct word is the one you trust most.
A safe word that changes by itself
Trusted Codes gives you and each contact three shared words. The words change at a set interval, on both phones, with no network needed. When a call feels wrong, you ask one question: "What are our words?" A copied voice cannot answer. Words that an attacker heard yesterday are already worthless.
The same check works at work
INTERPOL tells businesses to require more than one check for every financial transfer, and to confirm large sums in person. The second video shows why: the CEO on the call looks and sounds real.
Pressing play loads the video from YouTube (Google). Google then receives your IP address. Privacy policy
With Trusted Codes, the employee asks for the CEO's current code before any transfer. A deepfake has no phone that shows it.
The warning signs INTERPOL names
- contact that you did not expect
- pressure to act fast
- emotional pressure or a request for secrecy
- unusual payment methods: wire transfer, cryptocurrency, gift cards
When you see one of them, stop and ask for the code. If you have already paid, call your bank and the police at once.