Fraudsters Deepfake Entire Meeting, Swindle $25.5M

According to local media, unidentified fraudsters used deepfake technology to deceive an employee in a fake conference call.

In January, the fraudsters invited the employee to join a video conference. During the call, they instructed him to make confidential financial transactions of HK$200 million (US$25.57 million) to specific bank accounts.

Following the fake CFO's directions, the employee made 15 separate payments to five local bank accounts over the next week. He only realized the call was a scam after consulting with the company's main office.

Baron Chan, acting senior superintendent of Hong Kong police's cybersecurity division, told RTHK that the employee had been the only real person on the conference call. "I believe the fraudster downloaded videos in advance and then used artificial intelligence to add fake voices for the video conference," Chan said.

Chan explained that the scammers initially contacted the employee via third-party messaging services, posing as the company's chief financial officer. The video conference convinced the employee that the request was genuine.

"We want to alert the public to these new deception tactics. In the past, we assumed these scams involved only one-on-one interactions. This case shows that fraudsters can use AI technology in online meetings, so people must remain vigilant even in large meetings," Chan said.

In an email, Hong Kong police told Information Security Media Group that a female employee reported the financial scam to the police on Jan. 29. She said she had "received video conference calls from someone posing as senior officers of the company requesting to transfer money to designated bank accounts."

"After initial investigation, the case is classified as obtaining property by deception and is being handled by the Regional Technology Financial Crime Unit, Kowloon West. Investigations are ongoing, and no arrests have been made so far," police said.

In August 2023, Hong Kong police issued an initial warning about the first-ever detection of the use of deep fakes to deceive financial institutions.