The Arup Deepfake Scam

This episode of “What Just Happened?” explores the growing threat of deepfake technology in corporate settings. In 2024, a major incident involving engineering company Arup saw a finance employee tricked into transferring £20 million after a video call with deepfaked colleagues.

Hosts Kate Hartley and Tamara Littleton are joined by legal expert Emma Woollcott to discuss the criminal side of the activity and the current gaps in legislation. The episode looks at the increasing sophistication and accessibility of deepfakes, particularly in video form, and how this poses significant risks to businesses worldwide. While once limited to fake images or audio, real-time face morphing software now makes it nearly impossible for the human eye to detect manipulation.

We discuss how fraudsters exploit trust, hierarchy, and urgency to manipulate staff, particularly targeting overseas or newly acquired subsidiaries. And we look at how, as deepfake tools become more widespread, both fraud prevention and legal reform are urgently needed, and why businesses need to update risk registers and adopt proactive strategies to detect, challenge, and mitigate deepfake threats across operations.

A full transcript of today’s show is available to read here.