The rising cost of digital fakes, frauds, and forgeries in the private sector

What was once an amusing novelty has become a systemic threat to global business. Deepfakes, synthetic media, and AI-generated material have infiltrated private enterprises, and their presence is now being felt across financial services, insurance, retail, human resources, ecommerce, and more.

In the first quarter of 2025, deepfake-enabled fraud cost the global economy more than $200 million. And that figure only accounts for reported incidents. Many businesses lack the systems to detect synthetic media, meaning many cases go undetected or unproven.

What’s more alarming is that deepfakes are scaling while the barriers to entry are dropping. Anyone with access to an AI video generator, voice cloning tool, or receipt-forging template can now create media that looks and sounds entirely authentic. These aren’t isolated incidents or theoretical risks. They’re active threats spreading across social media, messaging apps, and even official-looking emails. As synthetic content becomes more convincing, distinguishing fact from fiction is becoming a daily challenge for individuals, institutions, and governments alike.

To combat digital fraud, media authentication must become a standard part of doing business—like verifying bank details before issuing a payment or checking a passport during onboarding. The longer organizations delay, the more they expose themselves to financial and reputational damage.

The cost of fraud in the age of AI

Fraud is not new, but synthetic media has changed its scope and speed. Today’s deepfakes enable fraud at scale with unprecedented realism.

In the insurance industry, AI tools are now being used to convincingly manipulate photos of vehicle damage, forge claim documents, and fabricate supporting evidence such as fake receipts. One reported case involved a fake claim for a $25,000 diamond ring with a purchase receipt from a real jewelry store.

The retail and ecommerce sectors face their own version of this crisis. Online marketplaces are overrun with counterfeit products. Despite Amazon seizing more than seven million counterfeit items in 2023, fraudsters continue to rely on AI to make their listings appear legitimate. A study by Michigan State University found 70% of consumers had unknowingly purchased counterfeit goods online in the previous 12 months; these purchases often start with manipulated imagery in online advertisements. For legitimate businesses, this leads to lost revenue, damaged brand reputation, and increasing pressure to prove the authenticity of every product image, review, and seller.

Deepfake-enabled fraud disrupts operations and erodes reputations, but it also damages trust—between employers and employees, brands and customers, and businesses and the public. When people can no longer trust what they see or hear, confidence breaks down.

Why traditional defenses are no longer enough

This new generation of digital deception tools are sophisticated and deeply convincing—so much so that most fraud detection tools aren’t up to the task of identifying them. Organizations have usually relied on traditional security solutions to mitigate fraud. Firewalls, phishing filters, manual reviews—these were adequate when threats came in the form of poorly edited PDFs or suspicious URLs.

But synthetic media doesn’t operate like traditional fraud. It doesn’t look fake. Instead, it blends seamlessly into everyday workflows: an email from a trusted source, a claim submitted by a loyal customer, or a training video from an HR partner. It mimics authenticity almost perfectly—which is what makes it so dangerous.

What’s needed is a shift in thinking: not fraud detection as a reactive measure, but media authentication as a foundational capability. In other words, organizations must treat photos, videos, and audio files with the same scrutiny they apply to financial records or user credentials. The return on investment is clear: stopping even one fraudulent insurance payout or counterfeit transaction could save millions of dollars.

From uncertainty to understanding

As the demand for reliable media verification grows, Magnet Verify stands out as a comprehensive, patented solution tailored to the world of digital fraud. Magnet Verify is a digital media authentication tool built to detect, trace, and verify the integrity of media files—photos, videos, and audio files. It leverages advanced forensic techniques and machine learning to identify signs of tampering and confirm authenticity at scale. Whether you’re processing 10 pieces of media a day or 10,000, Verify provides the assurance that your business isn’t being manipulated by fake media. It offers a user-friendly platform that answers the most important question: Is this media real or has it been manipulated?

• Media authentication: Magnet Verify uses advanced forensic techniques to automatically analyze media files for signs of manipulation. It validates the integrity of images and videos by detecting edits, verifying file authenticity, identifying original camera sources, and reconstructing editing histories. This allows investigators to confidently assess whether a piece of media is authentic or has signs of content being altered.
• Source identification: Understanding where a media file originated and how it has been handled is critical inauthentication examination. Verify traces the origin of media files back to the device brand/model camera that created them and documents the chain of custody. This source-level insight not only supports authenticity claims but also strengthens investigative leads and legal credibility.
• Patented media authentication: In an era of increasingly realistic forgeries, Magnet Verify helps distinguish authentic media from AI-generated content, deepfakes, and other manipulation. By providing quantifiable, objective analysis, it enables forensic experts to detect deceptive media and counter the spread of disinformation with forensic proof.
• Court-admissible reports: Verify produces detailed, reliable reports that are designed for use in legal proceedings. Its authentication process supports the admissibility of media evidence in court, equipping law enforcement, legal teams, and regulatory bodies with trusted analysis that holds up under scrutiny.

Because Verify works across formats, it can be used by teams in finance (approving expense reports), insurance (reviewing claims media), retail (vetting seller content), and legal (authenticating evidence). It turns authenticity into a repeatable, scalable process—saving time, reducing fraud, and restoring trust in your media pipeline.

For an insurance company, this might mean catching a faked accident photo before it leads to a six-figure payout. For a retailer, it could mean identifying counterfeit seller content before customers are deceived. For a financial institution, it’s the difference between authorizing a legitimate transaction or falling victim to synthetic voice fraud. Verify delivers measurable ROI and allows businesses, employees, and customers to trust the media they rely on every day.

The business of trust

Deepfakes and synthetic media are no longer just a technological novelty—they’re a real and rapidly growing business threat. It’s being felt in bank accounts, courtrooms, customer complaints, and insurance losses. Businesses that fail to act are not just exposing themselves to financial risk—they’re signaling that their systems can be exploited. Learn how tools like Magnet Verify can help your organization move from reactive defense to proactive authentication. Stop guessing and start knowing. Contact us and start building a system that doesn’t just detect fraud but prevents it before the damage is done.