Lured by fake “deepfake” video conference, employee transfers $25 million to scammers

In Hong Kong, an employee of a multinational company made $25 million worth of transactions at the request of his superior during a video conference with some colleagues. The problem, apart from that, is that all the participants in this meeting were created by artificial intelligence for a scam.

Deepfake “President Scam” Costs Hong Kong Multinational $25 Million The employee only thought he was following orders from his finance director, who, during a video conference with other company employees, asked him for this huge money transfer. The problem is that, except for him, all the participants in this meeting were created by artificial intelligence (AI).

“During this multi-person video conference, it turned out that all the people except him were fake, but he seemed larger than life,” chief superintendent Baron Chan Shun-ching told state broadcaster RTHK in the city.

It is therefore clear that this employee made about fifteen transactions on five different bank accounts for a total amount of 200 million Hong Kong dollars or 25 million US dollars.

“They all seemed real,” the employee defended.

Operation carried out by professionals

He joined this meeting after receiving an invitation email from his director based in the United Kingdom. When he received the email, he thought it was phishing, but was reassured when he saw that colleagues he knew were present at the video conference.

According to investigators, the scam was carried out with true professionalism. For months, the scammers allegedly downloaded videos of the multinational company’s employees using AI to mimic their voices and say what they wanted. The replacement employee discovered the problem by calling his colleagues after this meeting.

This deepfake scam is not the first. In 2019, the manager of a subsidiary of a British company of a German group transferred 220,000 euros to Hungary after a phone call from his boss. On the line, a scammer whose voice was duplicated with AI, the company’s insurer explained to the WSJ.

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