Article published in Infobae – August 28, 2025
The deepfake—a technology capable of manipulating voice, face, video, and image to make someone appear to say or do something that never happened—is no longer a distant concern. In Peru, executives from sectors such as finance, construction, microfinance, and food service have already fallen victim to this form of manipulation. Even well-known media figures have seen their likenesses used in fake messages designed to perpetrate scams.
The magnitude of this risk continues to grow. A 2024 Deloitte report revealed that 25% of senior executives have faced deepfake-related incidents targeting financial and accounting data. Similarly, a CrowdStrike report for Latin America warns of a sustained increase in these kinds of attacks.
These developments confirm that the issue is not exclusive to large corporations. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), NGOs, and government institutions are equally exposed. The main challenge lies in the fact that many people still do not understand how deepfakes work—making them easy targets for deception.
Organizations must prepare to face a new kind of threat: responding in real time to digital fraud that, in essence, has high reputational impact.
To address this challenge, several key recommendations should be considered.
First, it is crucial to establish public verification protocols. Every organization needs clear processes to confirm the authenticity of its communications and content.
Second, companies should implement rapid-response denial templates—predefined statements that allow misinformation to be refuted within hours, not days. It’s also worth considering authenticity markers, such as seals, digital signatures, or validation elements in official messages.
IT, legal, and communications departments should run joint deepfake simulations to strengthen coordination. Likewise, it is becoming increasingly strategic to rely on owned media channels, reinforcing institutional platforms where messages can be controlled and updated frequently.
Finally, spokespeople must be trained for immediacy. Media training should no longer focus solely on messaging—it must also include rapid reaction skills for digital crisis scenarios. Spokespeople must be prepared to respond quickly through media appearances, digital channels, or in-person communication with their teams.
This is a real-time challenge. Reputation management can no longer be reactive or bureaucratic. Now more than ever, anticipation—so often forgotten by companies—has become a necessity. Deepfakes have turned crisis communication into a race against time.
How organizations respond to this challenge will determine not only trust in their brands, but also the safety of thousands of people who could fall victim to digital fraud. Crises today don’t just affect market value; they also impact individuals whose peace of mind is put at risk by these scams.
As 2025 draws to a close and 2026 approaches, the challenge is clear:
protect corporate reputation with the same seriousness as financial assets.