Source: Vox
Deepfakes and synthetic media have crossed a threshold where average consumers can no longer reliably spot fakes through visual inspection alone, making them viable tools for fraud rather than just novelty content. The fraud landscape has shifted from social engineering that exploits gullibility to technological deception that exploits perception itself—a problem that no amount of individual vigilance can fully solve when the scams are indistinguishable from legitimate communication. Families now need institutional safeguards (verification protocols, biometric checks on high-stakes requests) rather than just education. The burden of proof has moved from "trust but verify" to "assume nothing visual is authentic."