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Printed from voicescam.com/scams/ceo-voice-fraud/ · Updated 23 October 2026

CEO voice fraud: when the boss calls for an urgent payment

An office desk with a closed laptop and a phone face up beside a notepad

A caller who sounds like a senior manager asks for an urgent, confidential payment or a change to a supplier's bank details. Confirm every such request through a second channel you already trust, and never let a voice alone approve a payment.

Do this now

  1. Pause the payment. No genuine deal collapses because you took ten minutes to check.
  2. Call the person back on the number in your company directory, not the one that called.
  3. Get a second approver to confirm before any money moves.
  4. Tell finance or IT security even if the request turns out to be real.

How CEO voice fraud works

  1. They research the company. Names, roles and voices from interviews, webinars and social media.
  2. They copy a senior voice. A chief executive, finance director or business owner.
  3. They call someone who can pay. Often a finance team member, sometimes late on a Friday.
  4. They create a reason for secrecy. A confidential deal, an acquisition or a legal matter.
  5. They ask for one urgent transfer, or for a supplier's bank details to be changed.

Why it works in offices

People are trained to respond quickly to senior staff, and nobody wants to be the one who delayed an important deal. Scammers use that. In one widely reported case, a finance worker at a large company transferred around £20 million after a deepfake video call (Ofcom, 2024).

Warning signs

  • Secrecy from colleagues or from the usual approvers.
  • A new account or a changed account for a supplier you already pay.
  • Pressure to skip the normal process "just this once".
  • The caller cannot be reached back on their usual number, or is "about to board a flight".

Controls that stop it

Simple payment controls and what each one stops
ControlWhat it stops
Call back on a known numberA cloned voice on an unknown or faked number
Two-person approvalOne person being pressured into paying alone
No bank detail changes by phoneFake supplier account changes
A hold period for new payeesSame-day transfers to accounts nobody has checked
A payment code wordA caller who has the voice but not the code

If money has already gone

  1. Call your bank's fraud line immediately. Ask them to recall the payment and alert the receiving bank.
  2. Keep everything. Call logs, recordings, emails and messages.
  3. Report it. In the US to IC3, in the UK to Report Fraud.

What to say on the call, and what to keep

Saying no to someone senior feels hard in the moment. A short, polite script makes it easier, and a genuine manager will respect it.

  • "I will call you straight back on your usual number before I do anything."
  • "Our process needs a second approver. I will start that now."
  • "I cannot change supplier bank details by phone. Please send it through the normal route."
  • "Before I go on, can you give me our payment code word?"

After the call, write down the time, the number shown, the name used, the amount and any account details you were given. Save the emails, voice notes or messages that came with the request. Pass them to finance and IT security so they can warn colleagues and check whether anyone else got the same call.

The same trick is used at home. A caller who copies a familiar voice to rush a payment is the pattern behind the cloned voice calls families receive. A fake fraud team asking you to move money is covered in our guide to calls pretending to be your bank. Sharing both with colleagues helps them spot the script outside work too. For the other common types, see every voice scam we cover.

Sources

  1. FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, public service announcement: "Criminals use generative artificial intelligence to facilitate financial fraud". Published 3 December 2024. Checked 23 October 2026.
  2. Ofcom, discussion paper: "Deepfake defences: mitigating the harms of deceptive deepfakes". Published 23 July 2024. Checked 23 October 2026.
  3. FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, IC3.gov. Checked 23 October 2026.

Common questions

Is this the same as business email compromise?

It is closely related. Business email compromise uses fake emails to redirect payments. CEO voice fraud uses a phone call or voice note, sometimes together with an email.

Can a video call be faked too?

Yes. Video deepfakes have been used in business fraud. Treat an unexpected payment request on a video call the same way: confirm through a second channel.

Who should I tell at work?

Your manager, the finance lead and whoever handles IT security. Tell them even if you did not pay. Others may get the same call.

Will our bank refund a business payment?

The UK reimbursement rules cover consumers, microenterprises and charities, not larger businesses (Payment Systems Regulator). Speed matters most: the sooner the bank is told, the better the chance of recovering the money.

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