Why is it so easy to be taken in?

The fight against deepfakes is not just a battle against technology, but above all against our own nature. There are several reasons why fraudsters manage so easily to lull us into a false sense of security.

• We trust our senses – our brains are evolutionarily programmed to regard images and sound as a direct reflection of reality. Sight and sound are far more reliable sources of information for us than plain text, which is why we subconsciously accept them as the truth almost automatically.

• Emotions take over – when creating fake content, scammers deliberately induce a state of intense anxiety, sympathy or agitation in us. Under the influence of emotions, the brain focuses solely on reacting, not on logical thinking. It is therefore no wonder that it is so easy to overlook minor inaccuracies in the message.

• Rapid technological development – computers are learning at a pace that humans cannot keep up with. Traditional methods for spotting deepfakes, such as the absence of blinking or unnatural shadows, are rapidly becoming obsolete, as computers instantly correct these errors. The artificial content produced today can be so realistic that it becomes almost indistinguishable from reality. This is precisely why focusing on the quality of the footage alone is often not enough to spot the deception.

Remember: the fact that it is sometimes so easy to believe an online lie is nothing to be ashamed of. It is simply a result of how our brains work. Fraudsters use psychology to cleverly override logical thinking, but the more aware you are of this, the less chance they have of succeeding through dishonest means.