A group of scammers successfully pulled off an intricate scheme, utilizing deepfake technology to mislead an employee at a multinational corporation.
The elaborate fraud involved impersonating various company executives in an online video meeting, resulting in the unwitting employee transferring $25 million to five different bank accounts across 15 transactions.
The fraudulent activity commenced when the employee received a fabricated message from the company’s chief financial officer, inviting them to a video call to discuss a confidential transaction.
Acting Senior Superintendent Baron Chan from the police force’s Cyber Security Division disclosed these details in a statement reported by Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK).
Chan suspects that scammers utilized pre-existing footage of the company’s executives to craft convincing deepfake impersonations. He believes the fraudsters downloaded videos in advance and employed artificial intelligence to manipulate the videos with fake voices for use in the deceptive video conference.
The individuals in the conference appeared authentic, and it was only after consulting the company’s head office that the employee became aware of the scam.
Authorities involved noted that this marked the first instance of such a deepfake scam in Hong Kong, reflecting a growing trend in the region.
