Last updated: 13 Feb 2024 10:30 Posted in:
A Hong Kong-based finance worker was conned into transferring £20 million into the bank account of criminals operating a so-called ‘deepfake’ scam.
The employee of a multinational company was persuaded to move with funds after a video call from his ‘Chief Financial Officer’ and other employees. He had been suspicious after receiving an email requesting a secret transaction. However, he eventually sent the scammers HK$200 million after the group video call.
“In the multi-person video conference, it turns out that everyone [he saw] was fake,” commented Hong Kong police senior superintendent Baron Chan Shun-ching.
According to Hong Kong police reports, the case is the latest in a string of deepfake scams across the city. One of the most common frauds involves the criminals using deepfake technology to modify existing footage in order to cheat people out of money.
A recent article published by Bloomberg offered advice on how to spot deepfake footage, saying that deepfakes are unable to execute complex movements in real time. It said potential victims should ask video conference ‘participants’ to write a word or phrase on a piece of paper and show it on camera. This is difficult for deepfakes to replicate convincingly in real-time.
It also advised the use of multi-factor authentication. For sensitive meetings, consider involving a secondary conversation via email, SMS or an authenticator app, it said. And companies should ensure they are using the latest version of their video conferencing software as it may incorporate security features to detect deepfakes.