Hong Kong police arrest 6 deepfake fraudsters
A financial manager at a multinational company in Hong Kong was deceived by an artificial intelligence (AI) deepfake and was defrauded of approximately 34.2 billion won.
According to CNN on the 4th (local time), this financial manager held several video conferences with someone posing as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the UK headquarters and then transferred 200 million Hong Kong dollars (about 34.2 billion won) to the fraudster.
In a briefing on the 2nd, police authorities said, “Several people participated in this video conference, but it was all fake.”
According to authorities, the financial manager suspected fraud after receiving an email from the CFO stating that “the transaction must be confidential.” He initially thought it was a phishing email, but he stopped being suspicious after joining the video conference.
The finance manager said that the co-workers who came into the video conference looked and sounded the same as the ones he knew. The finance manager, who believed that everyone he was meeting with was real, ended up sending 34.2 billion won.
The full story of the incident was revealed after the finance manager requested confirmation from headquarters. The names and details of the company and its employees were not disclosed.
This is not the only incident related to AI deepfakes. Police announced in a briefing on the 2nd that they had arrested six people suspected of fraud in similar cases.
They are suspected of stealing eight Hong Kong identification cards between July and September of last year. The identification cards were used for 90 loan applications and 54 bank account registrations.
CNN said, “Concerns around the world are growing about the sophistication of deepfake technology and cases of its abuse.”
Last month, an AI-generated image containing a composite of pornographic material on the face of world-renowned pop star Taylor Swift spread through social media, sparking great controversy. Accordingly, voices calling for regulation of AI technology are growing.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.