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Workplace scenario · 05 of 13

The finance director asks for an urgent transfer on a video call

A familiar face, a familiar voice and an urgent, confidential request.

The situation

You’re invited to a short video call. The finance director and two colleagues are on it. They explain that a confidential acquisition needs an urgent transfer today, and ask you to keep it quiet for now.

Principles involved

What do you do?

Choose the option you would take, then open it to see how it plays out. Reviewing the other options is part of the exercise.

Option A: Make the transfer. You can see and hear them.

Risky

In 2024 an employee in Hong Kong transferred about HK$200 million after a call like this one. The faces and voices were fakes, so seeing and hearing someone no longer proves who they are.

Option B: Ask a question only the real finance director would know.

Part of the answer

It might expose a fake, but a well-prepared fraudster may know the answer, and it puts you in a confrontation you don’t need.

Option C: Say you’ll follow the payment process, then call the finance director back on a number you already have.

The best choice

Urgency and secrecy are the signals. A call you start yourself, and the normal approval process, protect you whatever the truth turns out to be.

Option D: Refuse and hang up.

Part of the answer

Safe, but a real colleague deserves a route forward. Offer the check instead: the process and a call back.

Takeaway

Treat any unusual request for money, credentials or confidential data as unverified until you confirm it through a channel you start yourself.

Sources

What each source establishes, and its limits. The practices and recommendations on this page are ours, and the facts come from the sources. See every source we use.

  1. LCQ9: Combating frauds involving deepfake Government of the Hong Kong SAR (reply to the Legislative Council) · June 26, 2024 · Government statement Describes the case: a phishing email posing as the UK head office’s finance chief led to a group video call, and the employee transferred about HK$200 million to five bank accounts. Police believe the video was pre-recorded from public clips. Limits: Doesn’t name the company.
  2. Criminals Use Generative Artificial Intelligence to Facilitate Financial Fraud (I-120324-PSA) FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center · December 3, 2024 · Public service announcement Warns that criminals use AI-generated voice, images and video to impersonate people, and advises hanging up and calling back on a number you look up yourself. Limits: Aimed at US consumers.
  3. Suplantación del CEO utilizando la técnica de inteligencia artificial deepvoice INCIBE, Spain’s national cybersecurity institute · January 9, 2024 · Official case note (in Spanish) Describes a company that paid a fraudster after an AI-cloned voice of its chief executive called; advises confirming through a channel where you know who you’re talking to, never authorizing payments by phone and requiring more than one approver for large payments. Limits: An anonymized helpline case.