Executive Alarm Bells: Artificial Intelligence and Deepfake Scams Push Insurer to Call in External Experts
The Challenge
In late 2024, Maple Sure Insurance, a mid-sized national insurer, encountered an alarming new form of digital fraud. Claims adjusters began receiving video submissions that appeared genuine at first glance, showing policyholders describing incidents and requesting payouts. However, several of these clips contained subtle inconsistencies. The facial expressions and voice modulations seemed slightly unnatural. A deeper forensic review confirmed a disturbing truth: the videos were generated using deepfake technology to impersonate real customers.
This marked the company’s first exposure to synthetic identity and AI-driven fraud. Although Maple Sure had invested heavily in traditional fraud prevention tools, its systems were not designed to detect manipulated media. The incident revealed that generative AI had evolved faster than internal risk models, creating a blind spot in the company’s defenses. At the time, no AI governance framework existed, and fraud detection teams were unaware of how to identify deepfake artifacts. Compounding the problem, board-level executives had minimal awareness of the implications of generative AI in fraud, and privacy risk assessments made no mention of synthetic media exposure.
Within days, internal confidence eroded as staff realized how easily digital identities could be exploited. Maple Sure faced reputational risk, client trust erosion, and mounting pressure from both regulators and reinsurers to demonstrate control over emerging fraud technologies.
Our Solution
Our advisory team was brought in to help Maple Sure understand, manage, and mitigate AI-related threats. We began with an organization-wide risk discovery assessment focused on synthetic identity fraud, biometric spoofing, and deepfake exploitation. Working closely with fraud, IT, and compliance divisions, we mapped all systems vulnerable to manipulation and introduced AI-specific detection tools capable of analyzing inconsistencies in image, voice, and behavioral data.
We then helped the insurer draft an Artificial Intelligence Governance Policy outlining acceptable AI usage, vendor accountability, and approval pathways for future implementations. A dedicated cross-functional AI Ethics and Oversight Committee was formed, ensuring that technological innovation would be reviewed through both ethical and security lenses. Privacy Impact Assessments were updated to include synthetic data risks, while fraud analysts were trained to identify and escalate deepfake-related cases using new validation protocols.
Finally, we facilitated board-level workshops to improve leadership understanding of AI-driven risk. Executives learned how AI could amplify both opportunity and exposure, and how strategic risk governance could convert uncertainty into resilience.
The Value
Maple Sure successfully transitioned from a reactive posture to a proactive stance on AI and fraud resilience. Within three months, the company integrated AI threat monitoring into its fraud detection systems and began validating suspicious claims using forensic algorithms. The insurer also launched a public trust campaign highlighting its new transparency standards and commitment to ethical AI usage.
The reforms restored customer confidence and reassured regulators that Maple Sure was aligned with Canadian privacy and fraud prevention standards. Executives gained clearer visibility into technology risk, and the organization established a long-term roadmap for responsible AI adoption across all business lines. What began as a crisis became a catalyst for modernization, one that strengthened Maple Sure’s position as an industry leader in trustworthy innovation.
Implementation Roadmap
1. Conduct AI and synthetic identity risk assessment
2. Update fraud models and privacy impact assessments
3. Form cross-functional AI Ethics and Oversight Committee
4. Deploy deepfake detection and validation tools
5. Launch customer trust and transparency initiative
