London: A financial worker was tricked into paying $39 million to scammers through a “deeply fake” video call showing copies of artificial intelligence to his co-workers, police in Hong Kong said.
The employee transferred the money (HK$200 million) to criminals after they used artificial intelligence software to imitate his bosses, including a UK-based CFO.
Police said everyone involved in the video call except the victim was a fake representation of a real person.
Real or realistic? Workers now also need to be aware of the possibility of deep impersonation in video calls.credit: stock
The case is believed to be one of the largest financial frauds to date featuring deepfake technology.
The company and individual affected were not named.
Hong Kong police said they announced the case because it was the first of its kind to involve multiple fake people during a phone call.
“This time, in a multi-person video conference, it turns out that everyone you see is fake,” Acting Chief Superintendent Baron Chan Shun Cheng said, according to the British Daily Mail. South China Morning Newspaper.
The employee, who transferred the amount in 15 transactions involving five bank accounts, was suspicious when he received an email purporting to be from his finance director, police said.
Several people at the company were reportedly targeted with the phishing message.
