'$3.7B lost to deepfakes' — Why social media is the perfect launchpad for AI fraud | Tech Radar
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'$3.7B lost to deepfakes' — Why social media is the perfect launchpad for AI fraud
Social media accounts for 47% of all recorded deepfake fraud losses, Surfshark warns
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Surfshark's study puts total recorded deepfake fraud losses at $3.7 billion
Social media is the leading origin point, accounting for 47% of losses
2025 and 2026 alone are responsible for 89% of the damage
Deepfakes have graduated from an internet curiosity into a serious financial threat.
New research from Surfshark finds that people have now lost at least $3.7 billion to deepfake fraud, and the pace of that damage is accelerating sharply.
The study also traced where these scams tend to begin, and one channel stands out above all others. Social media is the single largest origin point, accounting for 47% of all recorded losses.
Running the best VPN will encrypt your traffic and hide your IP address, but it cannot stop a convincing fake video of a celebrity or a cloned voice on the phone from talking you out of your savings.
Social media is the biggest source of deepfake fraud
The scale of the problem has changed almost overnight.
New study warns over half of Americans hit by fraud in 2025
Big Tech slapped with $3.5bn in fines for using your personal data to train AI — and 'it could be only the beginning,' warns Surfshark
'Deepfake as a service' sees 39% spike in dark web conversations — and experts fear it will fuel the next wave of “fake boss” scams
According to Surfshark's data, losses totalled just
Most of these losses come from criminals using deepfakes of celebrities and public figures to push fraudulent investment schemes on social media.
"A single deepfake video can go viral in hours, reaching millions of potential victims before it's detected or removed. No other channel offers that kind of reach at zero cost," explains Luís Costa, Research Lead at Surfshark.
Not every viral fake causes harm, though. Costa points out that an innocent deepfake of a footballer during the World Cup might rack up millions of views without costing anyone a penny, while a fake government post promoting a dubious investment scheme can drain thousands of dollars from a single victim.
Social media is only part of the picture. Impersonation fraud, where criminals use deepfakes to pose as real people or bypass identity checks, is the second-largest category at $911 million — or 25% of losses.
Deepfakes are eroding trust: Why verification tools are essential
Security experts warn of AI-boosted scam campaigns that can trick even the smartest victims
AI-generated threats are hitting businesses harder than ever - do you know what to look out for?
Fake job candidate schemes, in which AI-generated interviews are used to infiltrate hiring processes, added a further $100 million. These scams are expected to rise, too. As Tech Radar previously reported, a 39% spike in "deepfake-as-a-service" chatter on the dark web could end up fueling the next wave of "fake boss" scams.
Everyday communication channels are increasingly in the firing line as well, contributing
The FBI's latest Internet Crime Report also logged
A separate Surfshark experiment found that nearly half of people cannot reliably tell a bot from a human online.
As Costa puts it, "awareness is the only effective defense when a familiar voice or face can no longer be trusted implicitly".
For personal calls and messages, he suggests setting up a family "safe word" you can use with loved ones to confirm identity when a request feels urgent or out of character.
On video calls, a "glitch test" can help too. Ask the other person to wave a hand in front of their face, as deepfakes often blur or distort when facial features are obscured.
Tech Radar has more advice on catching convincing AI images and deepfakes if you want to sharpen your eye.
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Monica is a tech journalist with over a decade of experience. She writes about the latest developments in computing, which means anything from computer chips made out of paper to cutting-edge desktop processors.
GPUs are her main area of interest, and nothing thrills her quite like that time every couple of years when new graphics cards hit the market.
She built her first PC nearly 20 years ago, and dozens of builds later, she’s always planning out her next build (or helping her friends with theirs). During her career, Monica has written for many tech-centric outlets, including Digital Trends, Slash Gear, We PC, and Tom’s Hardware.
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