AI Scam Glossary

CEO fraud / executive voice fraud

business email compromise · executive impersonation

CEO fraud is an impersonation scam in which criminals pose as an executive or senior colleague to authorize an urgent payment, credential change, or confidential disclosure.

What it means

The request may arrive by email, text, phone, or video conference and may use a cloned voice or deepfake face. Seniority and urgency are used to discourage employees from following normal approval controls.

How to protect yourself

  • Require a second-person approval for payment or account changes.
  • Call the executive on a known number, not one supplied in the request.
  • Treat secrecy and pressure to bypass controls as evidence of fraud.

Explore the topic guides

Voice Cloning ScamsImpersonation Prevention

Related terms

Voice clone scamDeepfake scamImpersonation scam

Cite this page

CEO fraud / executive voice fraud — Trust Onion, September 17, 2026. https://trustonion.io/glossary/ceo-fraud