Free mini-course: five short steps in your browser
Check a suspicious video call or remote job interview in 5 stepsthe purpose and request, a pause, confirmation outside the call, clues, and a dated record
TimeBinder adds a layer of protection against AI and human fraud and disputes. A five-step routine for a video call or remote job interview that may use a generated face or voice, or a stand-in. Progress stays in this browser.
No checker on this page can reliably tell a live deepfake from a real person. A TimeBind does not show who was on a call or that anyone is genuine. The steps are a routine, not a verdict on any one person.
Start the five steps
Each step is short and ends with one or two checks. Your progress is saved in this browser only. Nothing you choose is sent to TimeBinder. The course uses invented examples only, no real person, firm or call, and own-made diagrams.
Your progress is saved in this browser only. Choices stay on this device and are not sent to TimeBinder or tied to your name.
Step 1 of 5. 0 of 5 complete.
Step 1. Name the purpose, the claimed identity and the request
A video call can be a job interview, a call from a “colleague” or “boss” asking for a payment, a meeting with a prospective client, or a date or investment pitch. Before you react to the face on screen, write the purpose in one line (hire, pay, share access, send documents, move to another app) and note who the person says they are and how the call reached you: an email invite, a recruiter message, a calendar link or a call you did not expect. Then keep three things apart: the person you see and hear, the identity they claim, and what they ask of you. The FBI has warned that people have applied for remote jobs using deepfakes and stolen personal details, and its October 2026 alert describes people paid to appear on camera or take interviews for someone else.
Check 1. Match each part to what it means
Tap a part, then tap the meaning that fits it best.
Check 2. An invented “finance director” joins a video call and asks you to wire a payment today and keep it quiet
What is the best first move?
Step 2. Pause: a live picture is not proof of identity
A live image and voice feel convincing, but they can be generated or cloned, and a real person can stand in on camera for someone else. A polished call tells you little, and a glitchy one tells you little too, because poor connections look alike. The pattern to notice is the pressure and the ask: an urgent payment or transfer, a request to keep it secret, a move to a private chat or a different video app, a request for ID documents, bank details, account logins or remote access to a device, and reluctance to be checked by another route. If money, access or identity documents would leave your hands, pause the call or end it politely, say you will follow up, and move to Step 3.
Check 1. Which statement is the honest one?
Check 2. The call is crisp and the voice sounds exactly like your manager
What does that tell you?
Step 3. Confirm identity and the request outside the call
The strongest check is outside the call. Do not use the number, link or chat handle offered during it. Instead, contact the person on a number or address you already hold or find from an official source, such as the company’s own website switchboard, and ask whether the call and the request are genuine. For a payment or access request inside an organisation, follow your usual approval process and involve a second person. For hiring, check references through contacts you find yourself, verify the employer or recruiter through the official company channels, and use more than one identity check rather than relying on a single signal. The FBI’s October 2026 alert calls this “identity in depth”: layered checks rather than one indicator. If you cannot confirm, say so and treat the call and the request as unconfirmed.
Check 1. Which of these are sound verification moves?
Tick all that apply.
Check 2. A candidate in an invented interview offers a different video app and a reference from a contact they supplied
What is the sensible step?
Step 4. Clues and context: sync, delays, requests and devices
Clues can add to the picture, and they stay clues. The FBI’s 2022 notice describes interviews where lip movement and actions on camera did not fully match the audio, and where coughing or sneezing did not line up with the picture. Other things people notice are long delays before answers, a camera that is off or a fixed background, reluctance to turn their head or hold up an object, answers that sound scripted, and details that shift between calls or documents. Real calls show many of these because of bandwidth, microphones and nerves, and good fakes may show none. The FBI’s 2026 alert also warns that aggressive filtering risks harming genuine applicants and that no single indicator is reliable. Online “deepfake detector” services return a score, not a verdict. This site cannot tell you reliably whether a person on a call is real or generated.
Check 1. The picture and audio drift out of step during an invented interview
Check 2. What carries the most weight about who you are talking to?
Step 5. Decide, report, and keep a dated record
Honest outcomes include “confirmed through a channel I found myself”, “could not be confirmed, so I did not act” and “this looks like a scam, reported”. Do not send money, share ID or give access on the strength of a call. Report suspected fraud to the platform and, in the US, to the FBI’s IC3 at ic3.gov and the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov; elsewhere use your national reporting service. If you have already paid, contact your bank at once. Inside a company, tell your IT, security and HR teams. Take care with recordings: rules on recording calls and on handling personal data differ by place, so tell people and check the rules before you record, and keep written notes in any case. Under the EU AI Act, deployers of AI that generates or manipulates deepfake video or audio must disclose it, with the cited text stating application from 2 August 2026, but a scammer will not follow that rule, and the absence of a label proves nothing. A TimeBind records that an exact file existed no later than a recorded time, and that a later copy still matches its SHA-256 fingerprint, anchored to Bitcoin. It does not show who was on a call or that anyone is genuine. First Pooled TimeBind is free, then from US$5. An ASAP TimeBind is US$15.
Check 1. What can a TimeBind show about your notes and any files from a call?
Check 2. You could not confirm the caller. What now?
You have finished all five steps
Progress stays in this browser. You can revisit any step above. If money or access has already been given, contact your bank or your IT and security team at once, and report it.
How do you check a suspicious video call or remote job interview? The short answer
Work through five steps: write down the purpose of the call, who the person says they are, how it reached you and what you are asked to do; pause, because faces and voices can be generated or cloned, a stand-in can appear for someone else, and urgency, secrecy and a move to another app are the pressure to notice; confirm identity and the request outside the call by calling back on a number you already hold, using official company channels and your approval process, finding references yourself and using more than one check; weigh clues such as audio out of step with the lips, odd delays and reluctance to appear as clues only; then decide, do not act on an unconfirmed caller, report suspected fraud, and keep your notes.
None of this tells you for certain whether a person on a call is real or generated, and an online detector score is a clue at most. A TimeBind of an exact file can show that it existed no later than a recorded time and still matches. It does not show who was on a call or that anyone is genuine.
Why this course, in November 2026
Search suggestions checked on 13 November 2026 are modest but real: “deepfake video call scam” returned “deep fake video call scam”, “hong kong deepfake video call scam”, “is deepfake a crime” and “deepfake vs cheap fake”, while narrower phrasings such as “deepfake job candidate” and “fake zoom call deepfake ceo” returned nothing, so we do not claim measured search volume. Suggestions show what people type, not volumes. Demand evidence is also public and recent: on 13 October 2026 the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center updated its warning on remote IT workers who use stolen identities and paid stand-ins, including people paid to appear on camera or take interviews, and advised “identity in depth” rather than one indicator. An earlier FBI notice (2022) describes deepfakes and stolen personal details used to apply for remote jobs.
Sources: FBI IC3 alert I-101326-PSA, “North Korean IT Workers Expanding Use of Facilitators, Broadening Recruitment” (13 October 2026), FBI IC3, “Deepfakes and Stolen PII Utilized to Apply for Remote Work Positions” (28 June 2022) and EU Artificial Intelligence Act, Article 50 (transparency obligations). The last is an unofficial text of the Act, so please check the official sources. Rules and reporting routes differ by country.
This is the fourteenth course in the series. The first, Spot AI fakes in 5 short lessons, is a general introduction, the second, Verify a viral video in 5 steps, is a workflow for any single clip, and the third, Check a suspicious voice message in 5 steps, covers voice messages and calls. This one is narrower: a live video call or remote interview where the person in front of you may not be who they claim, and the key move is confirming identity and the request outside the call. For a suspicious website or login page see Check a suspicious website or login page in 5 steps, and for a map or satellite image see Check a map or satellite image that may be AI-made or edited in 5 steps. All sit under the public guide to protecting yourself from AI forgeries.
What each step can show, and what it cannot
The honest job of this routine is to slow a payment, a hire or a grant of access and leave you with notes you can show. See also synthetic media and existed no later than in the glossary.
| Step | What it can show | What it cannot show |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Purpose and request | What the call is for, who the person claims to be, how it reached you and what you are asked to do. | That the person is who they claim, or that the request is genuine. |
| 2. Pause | Whether urgency, secrecy, a move to another app or a request for documents and access are part of the pattern. | Whether a face or voice was generated. Polish proves nothing, and neither does a glitch. |
| 3. Outside the call | Whether a call-back on your own number, official channels, your approval process and independent references confirm the person and the request. | That a person is fake because one source denies it, or genuine because one confirms it. Each is one input. |
| 4. Clues and context | What sync, delays, camera behaviour and details suggest. Metadata of any saved files is often stripped and can be edited. | Identity or intent. A clean call or a detector score settles nothing, and poor connections cause the same clues. |
| 5. Decide, report, keep | What you checked and found, and that exact saved notes or files existed no later than a recorded time, with a later copy still matching its SHA-256 fingerprint. | Who was on a call, that anyone is genuine, or that a request is legitimate. |
If a call may matter later
If a call could become part of a fraud report, a bank claim or an HR or security review, a dated record of what you keep helps:
- Write notes straight after the call: the time, the invite or message it came from, what was said and asked, and what you checked. Keep invites, messages and payment records, and a recording only if the rules where you are allow it.
- Make a TimeBind of each file. The fingerprint is made in your browser and the file stays on your device. You can later download a Proof of Time Certificate.
- Store the files, the certificates and your notes together. Use the file date and metadata inspector or the file-changed answer to compare a copy later.
First Pooled TimeBind free, no card, then from US$5. An ASAP TimeBind is US$15. A TimeBind does not show who was on a call or that anyone is genuine.
First Pooled TimeBind free, no card, then from US$5. An ASAP TimeBind is US$15.
What a TimeBind shows, and what it does not. It shows that an exact file existed no later than a recorded time and that a copy shown later still matches its fingerprint. It does not show who made the file, who owns it, that its contents are true, or whether AI was used to make or edit it. This is general information, not legal advice.
Check a suspicious video call or remote job interview: FAQ
Can this course tell me whether someone on a video call is a deepfake?
No. No checker on this page, and no tool on this site, can reliably tell a live deepfake from a real person. The steps help you name the request, confirm identity outside the call and weigh clues. “Could not confirm, so I did not act” is a valid result.
Can I spot a deepfake caller by lips or lag?
Not reliably. The FBI lists audio and lip movement that do not match as something it has seen, but poor connections cause the same things and good fakes may show none. Treat it as a clue and confirm identity outside the call.
How do I confirm who is really on the other end?
Do not use the contact offered on the call. Call back on a number you already hold or find from an official source, follow your approval process, involve a second person, find references yourself and use more than one check.
What should I do if I already sent money or gave access?
Contact your bank or card provider at once, tell your IT and security team if it involves a work account, change passwords, and report it (in the US, reportfraud.ftc.gov and the FBI’s ic3.gov). Beware of anyone offering to recover the money for a fee.
Does a TimeBind show who was on a call?
No. A TimeBind shows that an exact file, such as your notes or a saved invite, existed no later than a recorded time and that a later copy still matches its fingerprint. It does not show who was on a call or that anyone is genuine.
Where is my progress saved?
In this browser only, using localStorage. Choices are not sent to TimeBinder and are not tied to your name. Clearing site data, or using another browser, starts the steps again.
Is the course free?
Yes. The five steps and the checks run in your browser at no charge. If you later make a TimeBind, the first Pooled TimeBind is free, then from US$5. An ASAP TimeBind is US$15.
Related guides and tools
- Check a suspicious voice message in 5 stepsUseful when the pitch also arrives as a call or voice note
- Check a suspicious profile photo or dating profileWhen the person first appeared as a profile
- Verify a chat or email screenshotWhen the request also arrived in a message
- Verify a viral video in 5 stepsA workflow for any single clip
- Spot AI fakes in 5 short lessonsThe first mini-course: labels, reverse image search, voice scams and more
- Protect yourself from AI forgeriesThe public guide behind the series
- Real or AI? quizPractise on own-made and public-domain images
Date the exact files you keep
Add a layer of protection against AI and human fraud and disputes: a dated, checkable record of the exact file, kept while you still have it.
- Open the app and sign in with email or Google.
- Add your files. They stay on your computer.
- Seal them and download your Proof of Time certificates.
First Pooled TimeBind free, no card, then from US$5. See pricing.