Multinational Firm Loses $25 million in Deepfake Video Scam in Hong Kong
A multinational company lost more than $25 million in a scam in Hong Kong where a fraudster used deepfake videos of the firm’s chief financial officer and other employees to order money transfers, local newspaper The Standard and other news outlets reported.
An employee of the company’s Hong Kong branch attended a video conference call after receiving a message from a scammer who claimed to be the firm’s London-based CFO, according to the reports. But other than the employee, all the participants—the CFO and several other colleagues—were deepfakes generated by artificial intelligence. Upon the fake CFO’s request, the employee transferred a total of 200 million Hong Kong dollars ($25.6 million) in 15 transactions, according to the reports. Hong Kong police didn’t disclose the name of the company or the employee.
In August, Hong Kong police arrested a fraud syndicate that was using deepfake videos, and called for the public to be aware of such scams, accrording to local media reports at the time.