When Video Is No Longer Proof Deepfakes, Evidence, and the Cost of Getting It Wrong

For decades, video, audio, and photographic evidence carried an unspoken assumption: if you could see it or hear it, it was real.

That assumption is now a liability.

I’ve spent 35 years conducting legal and corporate investigations, where evidence isn’t theoretical, it’s challenged in courtrooms, scrutinized by opposing counsel, and dissected under pressure. Today, I also operate a content marketing agency that uses artificial intelligence daily, giving me hands-on insight into how deepfake videos, synthetic audio, and manipulated images are actually created.

That dual perspective matters, especially now.

In 2025, deepfake-enabled fraud and impersonation are no longer edge cases:

• Global organizations have already lost hundreds of millions of dollars to AI-driven scams this year alone¹

• Deepfake-related fraud losses are approaching $1 billion worldwide, accelerating year over year¹

• Individual incidents routinely result in six- and seven-figure losses, often before internal teams realize deception is involved²

  
  

One multinational firm authorized a $25 million wire transfer after executives were unknowingly placed on a fake video call³.Other cases involve synthetic audio impersonating CEOs, attorneys, or family members, convincing enough to bypass internal controls and human skepticism.

The issue isn’t that the technology is sophisticated. It’s that people still trust what they see and hear.

Most organizations are responding with software, detection platforms, verification tools, automated flags. Those tools are helpful, but they are not enough. AI-generated content can pass technical checks while failing behavioral, contextual, and evidentiary ones.

This is where investigative judgment still matters.

Because I create AI-generated images and videos regularly for legitimate marketing purposes, I understand exactly how synthetic media is built, and where it breaks. Deepfakes leave tells: timing inconsistencies, lighting errors, unnatural cadence, behavioral mismatches, narrative gaps. These details don’t always trigger software alerts, but they stand out immediately to trained eyes.

You don’t spot deepfakes by reading about them.You spot them by understanding how they’re made, and how evidence fails under scrutiny.

I want to work with law firms and corporations to:

• Assess the authenticity of digital media presented as evidence

• Identify AI artifacts and behavioral inconsistencies

• Investigate the source, motive, and intent behind manipulated content

• Help protect reputations before damage spreads beyond control

  
  

Most investigators don’t work with AI daily. Most AI specialists don’t understand investigations.

I live in both worlds.

And as synthetic media becomes cheaper, faster, and harder to detect, experience, not algorithms alone, remains the most reliable safeguard when the truth is on the line.

Vic PichetteLicensed Private Investigator | AI-Literate Evidence Analyst

35 Years of Legal & Corporate Investigations

📌 Footnotes:

1. Deepfake & Fraud Losses (2025)  Industry reports estimate deepfake-enabled fraud losses approaching $1B globally, with hundreds of millions lost in the first half of 2025 alone.

2. High-Impact Incidents: Average reported losses per deepfake-related fraud incident often reach six or seven figures, particularly in corporate and financial sectors.

3. Executive Impersonation Case: Multiple documented cases involve forged executive video calls being used to authorize fraudulent transfers and agreements (publicized examples in major news outlets).