Remember when you could spot a phishing email by the grammar? “Dear Sir/Madam, I am Prince of Nigeria…”

Those days are gone.

Generative AI has leveled the playing field. The phishing emails arriving in 2025 are context-aware, perfectly spelled, and written in the exact tone your CEO uses. They reference real projects. They use internal jargon. They’re terrifyingly convincing.​

We’re also seeing “synthetic fraud”—entire fake identities created by AI. Fake photos (generated by Midjourney), fake voice (cloned from a 30-second sample), and fake documents (forged by GPT). These personas pass initial KYC checks because they look and sound completely real.

How do you fight something this good?

Technology created this problem, but process solves it.

Verify out-of-band. If you get an email from your CFO asking for an urgent wire transfer, call them. Use a phone number you already have saved—not one from the email signature. If it’s real, they’ll appreciate the diligence. If it’s fake, you just saved the company.​

Slow down. AI-driven phishing relies on urgency. “Do this NOW or we lose the deal.” Taking five minutes to verify usually breaks the scam.

Implement Zero Trust. Every request gets verified. Even if the email looks like it’s from the CEO, the finance system requires secondary approval before moving money

The grammar check is gone. But human judgment—when given time to operate—still wins.