Phishing, Deepfakes, and Social Engineering: The Growing Cyber Risks in Customer Interactions

As digital-first strategies become the norm across industries, the risk to sensitive information is at an all-time high. With customers increasingly engaging through virtual platforms, businesses have transitioned from traditional processes to seamless digital interactions. This shift, while essential for convenience and scale, has also opened the door to sophisticated cyber threats.

Industries that are built on customer experience—such as telecommunications, healthcare and banking—are especially vulnerable due to the vast amounts of sensitive personal and financial information they manage. In this evolving threat landscape, attackers are now leveraging deepfake technology, social engineering tactics and phishing schemes to compromise data, infiltrate systems and manipulate people.

Today, the most pressing concern is not just the sophistication of the tools used by cybercriminals, but their understanding of human behavior. From voice phishing to real-world impersonation, social engineering has taken on a more advanced form, making it harder for even experienced personnel to detect and defend against fraud attempts.

The surge in social engineering attacks

Social engineering remains one of the most insidious methods of cyber-attack. It involves manipulating individuals into revealing confidential information, often by exploiting trust or authority. The methods used have evolved far beyond the classic phishing email. Attackers now use vishing (voice phishing), smishing (SMS phishing) and even deepfake impersonations to gain access to systems and data.

In industries that rely on real-time customer interactions, such as telecom and healthcare, these attacks can be devastating. Not only do they compromise data privacy, but they also erode customer trust, which can take years to rebuild.

Telecom industry – fighting phishing and sim swap fraud

Telecom companies, which support millions of digital touchpoints, are frequent targets of cybercrime. One of the fastest-growing threats in this space is SIM swap fraud. In this method, cybercriminals hijack a victim’s phone number by transferring it to a new SIM card, thereby gaining access to one-time passwords and bypassing two-factor authentication mechanisms.

In a recent incident in India, large-scale phishing campaign targeted customer service personnel of a telecom major. Attackers posed as internal security teams and requested password resets, gaining unauthorized access to sensitive systems. This incident underscores the growing need for sophisticated security infrastructure.

To counter these attacks, telecom providers are deploying AI-powered fraud detection systems that flag suspicious behavior in real time. In addition, many are adopting biometric-based authentication and strengthening employee access protocols to ensure only verified personnel can make system-level changes.

Healthcare – facing deepfake scams and identity theft

The digital transformation of healthcare has enabled better patient engagement, especially through telemedicine and virtual care platforms. However, this transformation has also introduced new vulnerabilities. Deepfake technology is being weaponized to impersonate healthcare executives and gain access to electronic health records.

For example, cybercriminals have used deepfake video to impersonate senior hospital administrators, requesting access to patient databases and insurance information. In such cases, the attacks are often so realistic that even trained professionals are deceived.

To mitigate these threats, healthcare providers are investing in advanced identity verification systems. This includes facial recognition tools, AI-powered deepfake detection solutions and blockchain-based methods to secure data access and maintain transparency.

Banking and financial services – countering evolving cyber frauds

The banking and financial services industry continues to face relentless attacks due to the direct monetary value of the data involved. Fraudsters are now using multi-layered social engineering attacks, including deepfake-enabled impersonations of top-level executives, to authorize large financial transfers.

In one global incident, a finance executive in Hong Kong was tricked into transferring US$25 million after a deepfake video mimicked their CFO and other team members. The attack was so convincing that it bypassed traditional security checks and revealed a glaring vulnerability in the organization's verification process.

To stay ahead of such risks, financial institutions are upgrading their fraud prevention strategies. Multi-channel authentication, where verification happens across multiple platforms, and AI-based risk scoring before any large transaction are becoming standard practices.

Key strategies for building cyber resilience

In an age where digital experiences define brand loyalty, security cannot be an afterthought. Organizations must adopt a multi-layered and proactive approach to cybersecurity to stay ahead of emerging threats. Key strategies include:

• AI-driven fraud detection – leveraging real-time analytics and machine learning to detect and stop suspicious activities
• Advanced authentication protocols – integrating biometric verification, behavioral analytics and multi-factor authentication to secure access
• Cyber awareness training – educating employees and customers regularly about new fraud tactics and how to recognize and report them
• Secure communication infrastructure – using encrypted communication channels, blockchain-based data storage and role-based access for customer-facing teams
• Industry collaboration and regulatory compliance – staying updated on evolving standards and working with cyber threat intelligence networks to build collective resilience

Staying ahead of the threat curve

Cyber threats will continue to evolve, driven by both technological advancements and the increasing value of digital interactions. For businesses that thrive on customer engagement, securing these interactions is not just about compliance—it’s about protecting trust, brand reputation and long-term growth.

By adopting a digital-first mindset, embracing AI innovation and proactively fortifying systems, organizations can build a more secure and agile customer experience ecosystem. The future of CX will be shaped by those who can combine personalization and protection with equal strength.

-By Roman Rafiq, Chief Information Officer, Startek - A global customer experience (CX) management solutions provider