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Finance Worker Pays Out $39 Million After Video Call With Deepfake 'Chief Financial Officer'

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<p>"It turns out that everyone [he saw] was fake," police said.</p>

Summary

A finance worker in Hong Kong was deceived into transferring $39 million to fraudsters using deepfake technology to impersonate the company's CFO during a video call. This incident highlights the escalating threat posed by advanced AI tools capable of creating realistic fake video and audio, complicating the detection of fraud. The case underscores the potential for AI technology to facilitate large-scale financial crimes, raising urgent questions about the need for strengthened security measures and governance frameworks for AI use worldwide. Despite its global implications, the article does not focus on specific Australian policy responses or framework developments.

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A finance worker at a multinational firm was tricked into paying out $39 million to fraudsters using deepfake technology to pose as the company's chief financial officer in a video conference call, according toHong Kongpolice.The elaboratescamsaw the worker duped into attending a video call with what he thought were several other members of staff, but all of whom were in fact deepfake recreations, Hong Kong police said at a briefing on Friday."(In the) multi-person video conference, it turns out that everyone (he saw) was fake," Senior Superintendent Baron Chan Shun-ching told public broadcaster RTHK.READ MORE:Inert nuclear missile found in US man's garageA Hong Kong finance worker was tricked into paying out $39 million to fraudsters using deepfake technology.(Dale De La Rey / AFP)Chan said the worker had grown suspicious after he received a message that was purportedly from the company's UK-based chief financial officer.Initially, the worker suspected it was a phishing email, as it talked of the need for a secret transaction to be carried out.However, the worker put aside his early doubts after the video call because other people in attendance had looked and sounded just like colleagues he recognised, Chan said.Can you tell the difference between a real image and an AI-generated one?View GalleryBelieving everyone else on the call was real, the worker agreed to remit a total of $200 million Hong Kong dollars – about $39.3 million - the police officer added.The case is one of several recent episodes in which fraudsters are believed to have used deepfake technology to modify publicly available video and other footage to cheat people out of money.At the press briefing on Friday, Hong Kong police said they had made six arrests in connection with such scams.READ MORE:Trump's tariff strategy could reignite trade war with ChinaAuthorities are increasingly concerned at the damaging potential posed by artificial intelligence technology.(Getty images)Chan said that eight stolen Hong Kong identity cards – all of which had been reported as lost by their owners – were used to make 90 loan applications and 54 bank account registrations between July and September last year.On at least 20 occasions, AI deepfakes had been used to trick facial recognition programs by imitating the people pictured on the identity cards, according to police.The scam involving the fake CFO was only discovered when the employee later checked with the corporation's head office.Hong Kong police did not reveal the name or details of the company or the worker.Authorities across the world are growing increasingly concerned at the sophistication of deepfake technology and the nefarious uses it can be put to.At the end of January,pornographic, AI-generated images of the American pop star Taylor Swift spread across social media, underscoring the damaging potential posed by artificial intelligence technology.The photos - which show the singer in sexually suggestive and explicit positions - were viewed tens of millions of times before being removed from social platforms.