Home topics news Anish Sinha, COO and cofounder of Upcover News News Small businesses face new insurance options as deepfake fraud surges 1,600% Yajush Gupta February 6, 2026 Despite 89% confidence in spotting fakes, Australians correctly identify AI-generated scams only 42% of the time What’s happening : Australian businesses can now access specialist insurance coverage addressing deepfake fraud, as new research reveals only 42% accuracy in detecting AI-generated scams. Why this matters : Nearly nine in ten Australians are confident they can spot an AI-generated scam, but new research from CommBank shows they are only able to correctly distinguish between real and AI-generated images 42% of the time. Australian businesses now face a deepfake detection crisis, with new research revealing most people cannot identify AI-generated fraud even when they believe they can. Australians are only able to correctly distinguish between real and AI-generated images 42% of the time, which is below the chance of a random guess, according to research from Commonwealth Bank involving 1,988 respondents nationally. The findings expose a dangerous gap between confidence and capability. Nearly nine in ten Australians (89%) are confident to some extent they can spot an AI-generated scam, yet their actual detection rate falls well below random guessing. Trust exploited The technology works because it targets fundamental human instincts, according to Professor Monica Whitty, Professor of Human Factors in Cyber Security at Monash University. “Humans tend to trust faces, voices and familiar people. Deepfakes take advantage of that instinct,” Professor Whitty said. Less than