What started as the ‘deepfake phenomenon’ in 2019 has rapidly escalated into a full-blown cybersecurity crisis, creating a new reality where criminals are cashing in on a massive scale. According to cybersecurity company Surfshark, today, deepfake fraud has already cost $2.19B globally. The breakdown of these losses reveals the hardest-hit countries and the most devastating scam tactics.
Deepfake Hotspot: the US
The United States was the most targeted country globally for deepfake-related scams, suffering $712 million in losses. Of these, 43 percent occurred in the corporate sector – involving scams in which deepfakes were used to trick organisations into sending money or, in some cases, to place fake candidates in remote jobs. Another 31 percent of losses resulted from deepfaked investment opportunities.
“What is interesting is that an alarming trend has emerged almost exclusively in the United States: deepfake family impersonation scams. The US currently accounts for a jaw-dropping 99.9 percent of all global losses from this type of fraud, which has already cost American families $124 million. This terrifying tactic now represents 17 percent of all deepfake-related losses in the country, and while it is currently a uniquely American crisis, this trend is poised to become a widespread international threat,” predicts Luis Costa, research lead at Surfshark.
Beyond the US: Where Deepfake Fraud is Hitting the Hardest
L. Costa points out that three European countries are among the top 10 globally for financial losses from deepfake-related scams. The United Kingdom leads among European countries with $149 million in losses, followed by Sweden with $63 million, and Spain with $56 million. In these three countries, 90 percent of losses were caused by scams that used deepfakes of famous people to endorse various investment opportunities. The remaining losses, particularly in the UK, were due to scams targeting corporations and incidents involving deepfake romance schemes.
A look at other top-ranking countries reveals that deepfake tactics vary significantly by region:
Malaysia, ranking second globally with $502 million in losses, was almost entirely targeted by deepfaked investment schemes (99.7 percent).
Meanwhile, Hong Kong, in third place with $229 million in losses, has become the global hub for deepfake romance fraud ($105 million).
However, Indonesia stands out as a major outlier. Ranking fifth with $139 million in losses, nearly all of its damages came from criminals using deepfake technology to bypass bank security measures to secure fraudulent loans.
Australia ranks 10th out of 36 analysed countries in terms of deepfake fraud losses, with total reported damages of $44 million. The majority of losses, 79.6 percent, consisted of attacks targeting organisations, typically through CEO or executive impersonation, to authorise fraudulent transfers. Another 19.8 percent resulted from fake investment opportunities promoted by deepfaked celebrities, while 0.6 percent was attributed to romance scams using deepfakes to create fabricated identities and relationships.
Overall, the most successful tactic for scammers involves using deepfakes of government officials or celebrities to endorse various investment opportunities. This method alone has caused $1.13 billion in damages, which represents 52 percent of all reported deepfake-related fraud losses. This is followed by corporate attacks – such as the impersonation of CEOs to request unauthorised transactions – at 25 percent. Other significant contributors include financial crimes where victims’ identities are stolen and scammers use deepfake technology to secure bank loans or drain accounts (9 percent), followed by deepfaked romance scams (7 percent), family member impersonation (6 percent), and various other forms of deepfake-related fraud (2 percent).
For the complete research material behind this study, click here.
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