← Toolkit

Deepfake-spotting guide

You don’t need a lab to handle this. You need a pause, a call-back, and a plan for when a clip starts travelling. This is general guidance, not a detection product. Leave your email for a short PDF you can share with family or the team.

1. Step 1

   Pause before you trust a face

   If a video or a photo comes with a request for money, secrecy, or a login, treat the media as untrusted until you confirm it another way. A convincing face is not proof.

2. Step 2

   Call back on a number you already have

   Use a contact already in your phone, a meeting you scheduled, or a colleague in the room. Do not use a number or a link that arrived with the clip.

3. Step 3

   Look, but don’t rely on looking

   Odd lighting, missed glasses or jewellery, waxy skin, or lip-sync slips can still give a fake away. Better generators keep closing those gaps, so clues are a bonus, not a defence.

4. Step 4

   Use a code word for family and for payments

   Agree a private word. No urgent transfer, one-time code, or “keep this between us” request goes through without it and a call-back.

5. Step 5

   If a clip is about your organisation

   Say so on a channel you already own, and point people there. Don’t debate the fake only in the thread that is spreading it.

Read the longer explainer on deepfakes or set up a family or team code word.