Spotting the Fakes: How Norton’s Media Shield and Video Analyzer Help You Fight Deepfake Scams
Deepfakes are no longer science fiction. With today’s AI tools, scammers can generate convincing voices and videos in seconds, making it harder than ever to know what’s real. Some of these fakes are entertaining but others are designed to trick you into handing over money, credentials or personal information.
Why this matters now
Deepfake scams are moving away from viral stunts and toward smaller, more personal cons. A cloned voice or short clip can be made in minutes, and it is already good enough to fool people on calls, voice notes and quick videos. That is why protection that runs on your computer matters — it works fast and keeps what you watch private. The words in a video often give the scam away — promises, pressure and “act now” language are stronger tells than tiny visual flaws. And two layers help the most: automatic protection catches bad clips as you browse and a quick check lets you verify anything that feels off before you act.
What Norton is doing
At Norton, we have introduced two protections that work together: Media Shield in Norton 360 for the latest Windows AI PCs and Video Analyzer in Norton Scam Protection for quick checks on videos you’re unsure about. Both look for manipulated media and scam intent, and they do it in different ways that complement each other.
Media Shield: automatic protection on your device
Media Shield runs in real time using the PC’s new AI hardware to analyze audio and video as you watch or listen. You do not need to do anything — it works automatically in the background and keeps analysis on your device.
Video Analyzer: on-demand checks when you’re unsure
Available through Norton Scam Protection, Video Analyzer lets you paste a link — for example, a suspicious YouTube video — and get a fast assessment. It looks at what is being said in the transcript and at surrounding signals such as links in the metadata. So far, about 9 out of 10 scam classifications come from the content itself rather than from suspicious URLs alone. Because it is on demand, submissions reflect what people worry about most, with crypto and finance topics leading, followed by news and tech.
What we are seeing so far
Although Media Shield is available to a limited early access group, the pattern is clear. Most detections so far involve deepfake audio used to mislead. A smaller share are flagged as scam videos, with cryptocurrency and finance themes dominating. Nearly all of the scam clips we saw had under 10,000 views, while viral clips with hundreds of thousands of views were rarely scams in our sample. This points to a shift away from chasing mass reach and toward convincing smaller audiences who are easier to persuade. These are early signals and they will evolve as the rollout grows.
What this means for you
Keep Media Shield in Norton 360 on as your safety net while you browse. It can stop risky audio and video in real time. If something gives you pause, paste the link into Video Analyzer and check it before you trust or pay. Be extra careful with money themes — for example, giveaways, investment promises that seem too good to be true or clips that imitate financial experts. Treat surprise calls or voice notes as high risk even if the voice sounds like someone you know. As these protections reach more people, the early picture is clear — deepfakes are not chasing viral fame, they are being used in smaller scams that try to separate you from your money.
