Study finds high confidence but low capability in spotting deepfakes among consumers and small firms
Most Australians are far less skilled at detecting AI-driven scam content than they believe, new research from Commonwealth Bank has found, raising concerns for brokers, lenders and borrowers relying on digital channels for mortgage transactions.
The study found that 89% of Australians are at least somewhat confident they can identify an AI-generated scam. In practice, participants correctly distinguished between genuine and AI-created images only 42% of the time, a rate below random chance.
Older Australians were only marginally less accurate, with those over 65 just 6% behind younger age groups, indicating that deepfakes can mislead across generations.
At the same time, fewer than half of respondents (42%) reported being familiar with AI-enhanced scams, despite the rapid spread of deepfake content across social media, websites, messaging platforms and telecommunications channels.
James Roberts, general manager of group fraud at CommBank, said the research showed how scammers are exploiting that gap. “The findings reveal a growing gap between confidence and reality – and that gap is exactly what scammers are looking to exploit as they increasingly turn to AI to target everyday Australians and small businesses,” he pointed out.
According to Roberts, people do not need to keep pace with every new technology to stay safe. “The good news is that the steps that keep people safe don’t need to evolve at the same speed as the technology does,” he said. “Deepfakes might be new, but the same tried-and-tested habits – slowing down, checking details and speaking with someone you know and trust, such as a family member, remains your best defence – even against AI-powered scams.”
Impact on individuals and small businesses
Around 27% of Australians say they have seen a deepfake scam in the past year. The most common forms reported were:
- Investment scams (59%)
- Business email compromise scams (40%)
- Relationship scams (38%)
Among small business owners, 41% said they were familiar with deepfake scams. Half of all deepfake scam attempts reported by small businesses (50%) arrived by email, yet only 55% had checked supplier payment details in the past six months.
Roberts (pictured right) said more discussion in both households and workplaces was needed. “Scammers are using AI to create fake investment videos, deepfake celebrities, and even voice and text clones of loved ones, senior executives and government officials,” he explained. “Talking openly about this technology is one of the easiest ways to help stay ahead of it.”
Call for coordinated response
Roberts said that deepfake and AI-enabled scams require a collective response across multiple industries rather than action from individual institutions alone.
“We recognise the impact of scams on Australians and support the Australian government’s Scam Prevention Framework to introduce obligations initially across banks, telcos and digital platforms,” he stated.
“Deepfakes are showing up on social media, messaging platforms, websites and even through phone calls – and we welcome stronger protections across those industries, as well as banking.”
‘Stop. Check. Reject.’
Roberts stressed that the fundamentals of personal protection remain the same, even as channels evolve. “Deepfakes are new, but protecting yourself hasn’t changed – and with stronger protections across all channels, we can help keep more Australians safe,” he said. “The principles of ‘Stop. Check. Reject.’ can still help beat even the most convincing AI-enhanced scams.”
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