A Dozen Defenses Against Deep Fakes
Our investment team recently returned from Omaha and the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting. For the first time in 25 years, this was my first meeting without Warren Buffett leading the discussion. Instead, Buffett sat on the floor with the other directors.
However, as the question and answer session started, Buffett appeared to be in two places at once. The video screen showed Buffett, dressed in a suit asking a question, while he also sat on the floor in different attire.
(Source: CNBC)
As new CEO, Greg Abel, explained, the Buffett on the screen asking the question was a comical Deep Fake. Abel elaborated that although the image and voice on the screen were dead ringers for Buffett, they were complete fabrications with no input from Buffett. All the material necessary to duplicate Buffett’s voice and image were all cobbled together from information easily found from public sources.
Separately, we have had clients call us asking about a specific video or blog that Buffett supposedly posted. It got bad enough that in November 2025 Buffett and Berkshire put out a rare press release about deepfakes titled: “It’s Not Me.”
And that is the nature of the world we live in.
So how can you protect yourself from these types of AI spoofs, impersonations and deception?
1) Let paranoia be your friend. Have a “zero-trust” approach combining human verification protocols with technical safeguards.
2) Urgency and Pressure: Be highly skeptical of any request demanding immediate action, secrecy, or payment via untraceable methods like wire transfers, cryptocurrency, or gift cards. This is always a key warning sign.
3) Establish a “Safe Word”: Create a unique, private passphrase with family members and coworkers. If you receive an urgent call from someone claiming to be a loved one or colleague, ask for this code word to confirm their identity.
4) Use Out-of-Band Verification: If receiving a suspicious or urgent request (especially for money or sensitive data), immediately hang up and contact the person through a different, trusted channel—such as their known phone number or a secure internal chat. If you cannot reach them this way, contact a third party who may know where they are and how to contact them.
If a person contacts our office and wants money wired, we will often require them either to come by the office to sign forms in person, or we will require them to get on a Zoom or Microsoft Teams call with us.
5) Ask Personal Questions: Ask questions only the real person would know the answer to, such as “What did we have for dinner last night?” or details about a specific shared memory.
6) Request Physical Actions: During live video calls, ask the person to perform spontaneous actions that AI models often struggle to render accurately, such as turning their head to the side, placing a hand in front of their face, or sticking out their tongue.
7) Visual Glitches: Look for unnatural smudging around facial edges, hair, or jewelry. Other signs might include inconsistent lighting, odd reflections on glasses, or strange lip movements that don’t match the audio.
8) Audio Artifacts: Listen for a flat, robotic, or monotone delivery. AI voices may also have unusual pacing, lack natural human sounds like sighs or throat clearing, or feature faint electronic buzzing.
9) Enable Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Use MFA on all personal and business accounts to provide an extra layer of protection beyond just passwords.
10) Limit Your Digital Footprint: Be cautious about sharing high-quality recordings of your voice or face publicly on social media, as scammers use this raw material to train deepfake models.
11) Security Training: Implement role-based training and phishing simulations to help recognize the subtle cues of executive impersonation attacks.
12) Phone A Friend: Finally, with all these things, it never hurts to slow down and ask for a second opinion or help from someone you trust. Often, scammers are so skilled at playing your emotions that it can be hard for you to think straight.
Although these tips are decent in today’s world, criminals are increasingly creative and determined. As such, you must constantly be asking “what else should I ask” or “what don’t I know?”
Dave Sather is a Certified Financial Planner and the CEO of the Sather Financial Group, Inc., a “fee-only and fiduciary” strategic planning and investment management firm.
