A call from your boss asking for an urgent wire transfer. The voice sounds exactly right. Except it isn’t him. In 2026, voice cloning and deepfake scams are no longer science fiction, and they’re increasingly targeting small and medium businesses. From Trois-Rivières to anywhere else in Quebec, no company is too small to be a target.
The good news is you can protect yourself without being a tech expert. Here’s what a deepfake actually is, why small businesses have become targets, and the simple habits that make a real difference.
Quick answer: A deepfake is fake content, whether voice, video, or image, generated by artificial intelligence to imitate a real person. Today, a voice can be cloned from just three to ten seconds of recording. To protect your SMB, put a second-channel verification step in place before any wire transfer or sharing of sensitive information, and train your team to recognize these scams.
1. What is a deepfake and voice cloning?
A deepfake is content created by artificial intelligence that’s realistic enough to fool people. It can be an imitated voice, a doctored video, or a fake image. Voice cloning is the form most commonly used against businesses, since it’s fast and cheap to produce.
Here’s the unsettling part: it now takes only three to ten seconds of clean audio to clone a voice convincingly. And those few seconds are easy to find. A social media video, a conference talk, a webinar, or a voicemail message is enough.
2. Why SMBs have become targets
For a long time, small businesses thought they were safe. That’s no longer true. Artificial intelligence has made attacks cheap and automated, which makes them profitable even against small targets.
- Tailored lures: fraudsters use AI to craft messages suited to your industry, built around believable themes like an invoice or a bid request.
- Fewer warning signs: fraudulent emails now contain almost no typos and imitate your vendors more convincingly than ever.
- A very real impact: according to the World Economic Forum, nearly three out of four respondents in 2025 knew someone close to them who had been affected by a digital fraud.
Phishing remains the number one entry point for attacks, and AI simply makes it more convincing.
3. How to recognize an AI scam
No technology replaces vigilance. A few reflexes let you catch most of these scams before it’s too late.
- Unusual urgency that pushes you to act fast without thinking.
- A request for a wire transfer, a change of banking details, or sensitive data.
- An unusual channel: a call or text instead of the usual email.
- Something off in the tone, wording, or the process being followed.
OKTO tip: Adopt a simple rule at your company: any request for a wire transfer or banking change must be confirmed through a second, known channel, such as a call to the person’s official number. This one habit alone blocks the vast majority of voice cloning scams.
4. Six ways to protect your business
AI doesn’t replace good security practices, quite the opposite. It makes the fundamentals even more valuable.
- Double validation: confirm any sensitive request through a second channel.
- Two-factor authentication: turn it on everywhere, especially for email and banking access.
- An internal security passphrase: agree on a word or secret question to confirm identity when in doubt.
- Team training: make your staff aware of deepfakes and voice cloning.
- Updates: keep your systems and software current.
- Written procedures: document who can authorize a payment and how.
To set up two-factor authentication in practice, check out our guide Enabling two-factor authentication on Microsoft 365.
5. What to do if you’re a victim
If a scam succeeds, speed limits the damage. Act right away and without hesitation, since these scams catch even careful people off guard.
- Contact your financial institution immediately to try to stop the transfer.
- Change any compromised passwords and review account access.
- Report the incident to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre and to your IT provider.
Frequently asked questions
What is a deepfake?
A deepfake is fake content generated by artificial intelligence, such as a voice, video, or image, designed to realistically imitate a real person. Fraudsters use it to pose as a boss, a vendor, or a colleague.
How long does it take to clone a voice?
Very little time. Current tools can produce a convincing clone from as little as three to ten seconds of clean audio. That’s why a single public video or voicemail can be enough for a fraudster.
How do you protect yourself from AI scams?
The best protection is double validation: confirm any sensitive request through a different, known channel. Add two-factor authentication, written procedures, and regular team training.
Protect your SMB with a trusted local partner
Deepfake scams keep evolving fast, but simple measures protect you effectively. To assess your risks and train your team, explore our IT services or contact the OKTO Solutions team in Trois-Rivières for guidance suited to your business.