alphaPlan · Desk one-pager
The verification playbook
AI makes scams fluent, personal and convincing, so judge the request instead of the polish and confirm anything sensitive on a channel you chose.
01
Pause
When a request comes with a countdown or a threat, pause, breathe, and verify on a separate, trusted channel.
02
Judge the request, not the polish
Judge what a message asks and whether the request makes sense, not how well it is written.
03
Verify on a channel you chose
Before acting on a sensitive request made over video or phone, hang up and call back on a number you already have.
The one rule to write down
Make 'we always call to confirm a change of bank details' a written rule, not a personal favour.
Confirm any change of bank details by phoning a number you already have on file, never one in the message.
Words
- Deepfake
- Video or audio that AI has generated or altered to show a real person saying or doing something they never did.
- Voice cloning
- An AI copy of someone's voice made from a short recording, able to say anything the attacker types.
- Separate, trusted channel
- A route you chose and already trust, never the contact details supplied in the suspicious message.
- Safe word
- A word or phrase agreed in advance that only your family or team knows; a clone cannot guess it.
Never
- Never use the contact details supplied in the suspicious message itself.
- Treat a new contact you cannot check independently as unproven: a profile is not proof of a person.
- A face can be faked in real time on a video call, so a familiar face is a claim, not proof of identity.
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