That Employee Who Fell For A $25 Million Deepfake Scam? Here's How This New Tool From McAfee Could Have Protected Him And The Company Money

Imagine being tricked into sending $25 million to scammers because you thought you were on a video call with your company's CFO and other trusted colleagues. That happened to an employee of a global engineering firm, Arup, earlier this year. 

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The criminals used deepfake technology to create fake versions of the CFO and other staff members, making the video call look completely real. 

A spokesperson from Arup told CNBC, "Like many other businesses around the globe, our operations are subject to regular attacks, including invoice fraud, phishing scams, WhatsApp voice spoofing and deepfakes.”

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That’s why the global computer security software company McAfee has just launched a new tool that could help prevent these kinds of scams. Their newest product, McAfee Deepfake Detector, is designed to spot AI-generated audio and video content in seconds.

According to the company website, the software “works quietly in the background, protecting people against deceptions and alerting them to potential scams without compromising performance.” However, it's available exclusively on select Lenovo AI PCs and only in the US, UK and Australia for English language detection, starting at $9.99 for the first year.

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This tool could have helped the employee by checking the video call and noticing that the voices and images were fake, alerting them that something wasn't right. That would allow them to pause and verify with the company's chief financial officer directly before sending any money, which they should have done anyway.

In addition to the Deepfake Detector, the company also launched the Smart AI Hub, an online resource with tips and information about AI, deepfakes and cybersecurity.

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Cybersecurity experts say that the popularization of OpenAI's ChatGPT has lowered the barrier of entry for cybercriminals. They don’t need to have special technological skills to fool people into transferring substantial sums of money to them. They also warn that deepfakes of high-ranking executives could be used to spread false information, manipulate stock prices or damage a company's reputation.

However, these kinds of scams existed even before the rise of ChatGPT. For instance, in 2019, the CEO of a British energy company was fooled into transferring around $238,000 to a scammer who faked his boss’s voice. 

Similarly, researchers at Google-owned cybersecurity company Mandiant found several cases where criminals used AI and deepfake technology for phishing, spreading false information and other illegal activities. Countries like Russia and China often support these criminals but can work independently.

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