Incidents Hongi was built for.

What happened

The National Republican Senatorial Committee published an 85-second attack ad featuring an AI-generated James Talarico reading old tweets to camera. Reuters identified it as one of at least three NRSC deepfakes this election cycle.

How Hongi would have helped

Hongi is a person-to-person tool, not an ad-classification system, so it cannot screen political video. Where it would have helped is the next step: Talarico's staff and trusted contacts could verify any direct outreach claiming to come from him.

What happened

The Bank of Italy filed a criminal complaint after fabricated articles, images and videos showing Governor Fabio Panetta appearing to endorse investment products spread across social media, several generated with AI deepfake techniques to lend credibility to fraudulent schemes.

How Hongi would have helped

Hongi can't block a broadcast deepfake aimed at strangers. If the Bank of Italy were listed in the Hongi directory (Hongi Anyone), anyone receiving a follow-up "call from the Bank" could call back on the listed number and check that it really is the Bank.

What happened

Cantonal police in Schwyz disclosed that fraudsters used cloned audio impersonating a trusted business partner across a two-week sequence of calls, persuading an entrepreneur to make several wire transfers to an Asian bank account before the deception was discovered.

How Hongi would have helped

A pre-paired Hongi link between the entrepreneur and the real business partner would have required the caller to read the current rotating codeword. A cloned voice cannot produce a codeword it cannot see, which would have given a clean way to verify before any transfer.

What happened

BSE issued a formal advisory after a fabricated video showing MD and CEO Sundararaman Ramamurthy giving "exclusive" stock recommendations spread on social media and WhatsApp, with viewers urged to join paid investment groups. BSE confirmed the video was entirely AI-generated.

How Hongi would have helped

Hongi does not screen mass-broadcast deepfakes promoted to strangers. If BSE were listed in the Hongi directory (Hongi Anyone), investors could check any follow-up "private tip" call by calling back on BSE's listed number before acting on it.

What happened

Several prominent Italian executives were called by a scammer using a cloned voice of Defence Minister Guido Crosetto, asking for urgent wire transfers tied to a fabricated state matter. At least one transfer went through before the impersonation was discovered.

How Hongi would have helped

If the ministry were listed in the Hongi directory (Hongi Anyone), each executive could call back on the listed number and check: they read their code, the ministry's staff read the ministry's code back. A cloned voice can't produce a code it can't see, so the call would have ended before the wire.

What happened

The FBI's December 2024 IC3 advisory described scammers cloning the voices of children and grandchildren from short voicemail or social-media samples, then phoning elderly relatives in fake distress and demanding urgent bail or hospital money.

How Hongi would have helped

When the grandchild and grandparent are paired, an incoming call starts with a codeword the grandparent expects to hear. A cloned voice has no access to the rotating word on the grandchild's screen, so the script falls apart at the first question.

What happened

An executive at Ferrari received calls from someone using a convincing cloned voice of CEO Benedetto Vigna and pushing a confidential acquisition. He ended the call by asking a personal question only the real CEO could answer.

How Hongi would have helped

A personal question is a one-off defence that only works once. With Hongi Work, any colleague can check the CEO on every call, with no pairing step: each reads a short code that only their two phones can compute. Hongi Work is available for pilots.

What happened

A finance worker at Arup's Hong Kong office attended a video call with what appeared to be the CFO and several colleagues, all of them deepfaked. After initial doubt, the employee authorised 15 transfers totalling roughly HK$200 million.

How Hongi would have helped

With Hongi Work, the approval step for any transfer could require a code check with the real CFO, called back on a known number: each reads the code their phone shows. A roomful of deepfaked colleagues has no access to those phones. Hongi Work is available for pilots.

What happened

Scammers impersonated WPP chief executive Mark Read in a Microsoft Teams meeting using a voice clone and a YouTube-sourced video likeness, attempting to set up a new business with a senior agency leader.

How Hongi would have helped

With Hongi Work, the agency leader could have asked "Mark Read" to read his code at the start of the call and read his own back. The attacker controls audio and video, but not the codes on the two colleagues' phones. Hongi Work is available for pilots.

What happened

An employee at password manager LastPass received WhatsApp calls and voicemail using a convincing voice clone of the CEO. The employee flagged the messages as suspicious and the attempt failed, and the company published the incident as a warning.

How Hongi would have helped

Hongi Work turns "sounds like the CEO" into "matches the CEO's code", for every colleague, with no pairing step. Without the code, the message is, by design, indistinguishable from any other phisher's. Hongi Work is available for pilots.

What happened

Sophisticated deepfake video ads of financial journalist Martin Lewis circulated on social media, directing viewers to fraudulent investment sites. Lewis publicly disowned the ads and called for platform-level action.

How Hongi would have helped

Hongi cannot stop fraudulent ads. Where it would help is the next step: if a "representative" then calls a viewer, an organisation listed in the Hongi directory (Hongi Anyone) lets anyone call back on its listed number and check that it really is that organisation.

What happened

Voters in the January 2024 New Hampshire primary received robocalls using a synthetic voice imitating then-President Biden, telling them not to vote. A consultant was later charged for orchestrating the calls.

How Hongi would have helped

Hongi is a person-to-person tool, not a broadcast defence: it cannot filter mass robocalls. It can, however, give any individual paired with a known political contact a way to verify whether a follow-up call from that contact is real.