Deepfake Scam: Chinese Employee Loses $25M Of MNC Company’s Funds

A multinational company in China lost over $25 million because of a clever scam using advanced AI technology called deepfakes. 

The scam started with an email to an employee from someone pretending to be the company’s chief financial officer (CFO). The email asked the employee to transfer a large amount of money. 

To convince the employee, the scammers set up a video call with the fake CFO and other senior executives, all created using deepfakes. 

Deepfakes are fake videos made using artificial intelligence (AI). They can make people appear to say or do things they never did. These deepfakes looked and sounded very real. 

The employee, believing he was talking to real company executives, sent more than $25 million to a bank account the scammers provided.

The employee realized it was a scam only after talking to the company’s main office a few days later. 

Hong Kong police, who are investigating this case, said that this type of scam is new but becoming more common. They have found over 20 cases where deepfakes were used to trick systems that recognize faces.

Scammers also use deepfakes in other ways. For example, they made fake videos of political figures like U.S. President Joe Biden and Senator Elizabeth Warren. They even created fake images and videos of celebrities like Taylor Swift. 

To fight against these scams, a new group called TrueMedia is developing a tool to spot deepfakes. This tool will be available to journalists and online influencers to help stop the spread of false information. Big companies like Intel and Meta are also working on similar tools.

The Hong Kong police want people to be more careful, especially in online meetings, because scammers are using AI technology in new ways to trick people. 

The U.S. is also paying attention to these scams. A lawmaker there wants to make creating deepfake images illegal. The rise in deepfake scams shows how important it is to be aware of the dangers of this technology.