Fraudsters Use Deepfake Tech To Steal $25M In Sophisticated Corporate Scam

A finance worker at a multinational corporation was duped into transferring $25 million to fraudsters. The criminals used deepfake technology to impersonate the company’s CFO and other staff members during a video call, according to the Hong Kong police.

What Happened: The employee was tricked into a video conference call with individuals he assumed were his colleagues, reported CNN. However, these individuals were deepfake recreations, as revealed by the Hong Kong police.

Senior superintendent Baron Chan Shun-ching stated that the employee initially suspected a phishing attempt when he received a message from the alleged UK-based CFO discussing a confidential transaction. However, he dismissed his suspicions after the video call, as the participants looked and sounded like his familiar coworkers.

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Convinced by the authenticity of the call, the employee agreed to transfer approximately $25.6 million. The fraud was only discovered when the employee later verified the transaction with the company’s head office.

The Hong Kong police have made six arrests related to such scams and reported that deepfake technology has been used in several recent cases to manipulate video footage and defraud individuals.

Why It Matters: This incident is the latest in a series of alarming events involving deepfake technology.

In September, AI was used to create explicit images of minor girls in a small Spanish town, outraging residents. A similar incident occurred in November at a New Jersey school.

The technology has also been used to create fake images and voice alterations of public figures such as Taylor Swift and President Joe Biden.

This incident caught the attention of Microsoft Corp. MSFT CEO Satya Nadella, too, who expressed concerns over the misuse of AI and called for safeguards to regulate content.

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

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