The tells, while they last
Generated images and video still slip in predictable ways. Check hands and fingers, teeth, and earrings or glasses that do not match from one side to the other. Read any text in the background, which often dissolves into near-letters. Watch for skin that is too smooth, hair that melts into the background, shadows that disagree about the sun, and a mouth that drifts slightly out of step with the words. Cloned voices tend to have an even, unhurried cadence, few breaths and no room noise. Each generation of tools fixes the last one's flaws, and a clean image proves nothing.
Check the source instead
- Find where the clip first appeared, and be wary if the trail ends at an anonymous account.
- Run a reverse image search on the picture or on a still frame, which often turns up the original photograph that was altered, or the same image with an earlier date and a different story.
- Look for the full-length video, since many fakes are real footage cut short, slowed down or given a false caption.
- See whether established news outlets, or the person shown, have addressed it.
- Notice your own reaction, because content built to enrage or delight you is built to be shared before it is checked.
Some cameras and editing tools now attach content credentials, a signed record of how a file was made. A valid credential is useful evidence. A missing one means nothing, since most genuine media has none.
When the fake is aimed at you
The most common criminal use is not political. A cloned voice of a relative calls in distress and needs money, or a video call from a boss orders an urgent transfer. A few seconds of public audio is enough raw material. Hang up and call the person back on a number you already have. Agree on a family code word in advance, and at work confirm any payment request through a second channel, whoever appears to be asking.
If you are the subject
Save copies and web addresses, then report the material to the platform as manipulated media or impersonation. Sexual deepfakes of real people are illegal in many states, and a federal law passed in 2025 requires platforms to remove them within 48 hours of a valid request from the person depicted.
Tip Passing a fake along with a warning attached still spreads it. If you need to show someone, send a screenshot with the word fake written across it.
