This time, the dark side of artificial intelligence technology has cast a shadow over one of Hong Kong’s largest multinational companies. The company lost $26 million at once after it fell victim to the impersonation of its financial director using deepfake technology in a video conference with employees.
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This time, the dark side of artificial intelligence technology has cast a shadow over one of Hong Kong’s largest multinational companies. The company lost $26 million at once after it fell victim to the impersonation of its financial director using deep fake technology in a video conference with employees.
According to what was reported by the “South China Morning Post” newspaper, the fraudsters created the persona of the CFO during the conference to appear in front of employees from the company’s office in London, where they were asked to make 15 transfers to 5 bank accounts in Hong Kong with a value of up to 200 million Hong Kong dollars (26 million US dollars).
She added that it later became clear that the company’s employees had fallen prey to a fraud that was carried out through artificial intelligence techniques known as “deepfake technology,” where a person’s appearance and voice are embodied using artificial intelligence technology from his previous photos and video clips.
The newspaper reported that the company’s financial management had previously received a message purporting to be from the company’s chief financial officer, based in the United Kingdom, in mid-January, containing an invitation to an encrypted virtual video meeting, during which the identity of the chief financial officer was impersonated and victims were framed.
The Increase of Cybercrimes Using Artificial Intelligence
The world has been witnessing a rise in deepfake crimes since 2017, which are caused by artificial intelligence technology, starting with faking voices and videos.
In 2022, 66% of cybersecurity professionals encountered deepfake attacks within their organizations, such as sending fake voice messages to managers requesting urgent requests to transfer money or reveal important information.
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Source: South China Morning Post
