Hackers ‘steal your face’ to create deepfakes that rob bank accounts

Group-IB researchers reported on a new hacking technique in which a threat actor uses social engineering to steal the victim’s facial recognition data to then create deepfakes to gain unauthorized access to a victim’s bank account. Read more.

 

The Psychological Effects of AI Clones and Deepfakes

Concerns range from misuse to the potential impact on reputation and identity. From Psychology Today.

 

FCC votes to ban scam robocalls that use AI-generated voices

The Federal Communications Commission said Thursday it is immediately outlawing scam robocalls featuring fake, artificial intelligence-created voices, cracking down on so-called “deepfake” technology that experts say could undermine election security or supercharge fraud. Read more.

 

Deepfake Porn Is Political Violence

CARA HUNTER, A NORTHERN IRISH POLITICIAN, WAS ONLY WEEKS away from the country’s 2022 legislative elections when she received a WhatsApp message from someone she didn’t know.

The man quickly asked her if she was the woman in an explicit video — a 40-second clip that he shared with the then-24-year-old. Opening the video, Hunter was confronted with an AI-generated deepfake video of herself performing graphic sexual acts. Within days, the false clip had gone viral. Read more.

 

New Research Shows A 704% Increase In Deepfake “Face Swap” Attacks From The First To The Second Half Of 2023.

A report from biometric firm iProov warns that “face-swapping” fraudsters are increasingly using off-the-shelf tools to create manipulated images and videos. Read more.

 

Multinational Firm Loses $25M in Elaborate Deepfake Scam Impersonating CEO and CFO

The elaborate scheme involved scammers employing advanced deepfake technology to convincingly impersonate key company figures in a video conference call, ultimately tricking an employee into making significant unauthorized transfers.

The perpetrators meticulously recreated the company’s chief financial officer and other participants, making the entire video call, except for the targeted employee, a digital fabrication. Read More.

 

How audio-jacking using gen AI can distort live audio transactions

IBM’s Threat Intelligence team took LLM attack scenarios a step further and attempted to hijack a live conversation, replacing legitimate financial details with fraudulent instructions. All it took was three seconds of someone’s recorded voice. Read More.

 

ByteDance Instant AI Voice Clone Sparks Fraud Concerns

ByteDance, owned by TikTok, has created powerful new software that will allow its users to instantly change their voice into another person’s using generative AI technology, and can perform real-time conversion of anyone’s voice into the cloned voice using a “single utterance of speech from the voice they are imitating. Read More.

 

Report Unveils Emerging AI Challenges In Financial Crime

66% of financial industry respondents perceive the use of AI by criminals as a growing cybersecurity threat, encompassing risks like deepfakes, sophisticated cyber hacks, and generative AI-driven malware. More from Insurance Business.

 

Deepfake Explicit Images Of Taylor Swift Spread On Social Media

Pornographic deepfake images of Taylor Swift are circulating online, making the singer the most famous victim of a scourge that tech platforms and anti-abuse groups have struggled to fix. Read More.

 

BUSINESSES ALREADY FEELING IT

Recent research found that roughly a third of all businesses have reported being victimized by deep fake voice scams and deep fake videos. And nearly half of all businesses reported falling victim to synthetic identity theft, where thieves combine real and fake ID information to create totally new and artificial identities.

A DEEP FAKE VOICE CONVERSATION COSTS BANK $35 MILLION

Three years ago, before the recent huge advancements in AI and in one of the biggest cases so far, a bank manager was fooled by a deep fake voice message into transferring $35 million to the account of a cyber crook. The scam was well planned because the crooks had previously sent fake emails to the bank, impersonating the client, and letting them know about the transfer in advance.

DEEP FAKE CEO COSTS BUSINESS QUARTER OF A MILLION DOLLARS

A year earlier, scammers used a deepfake audio of a CEO to con $243,000 from a U.K.-based energy company. After the money had been transferred, it was forwarded to an account in Mexico and then other locations, making the identification of the fraudsters impossible.

“60 MINUTES” TEAM FOOLED WITH DEEPFAKE PASSPORT REQUEST

In 2023, a well-known security expert was able to use just a couple of seconds of staffer’s voice to trick employees at the 60 Minutes program into handing over the passport number of one of their correspondents. According to the security expert, it took less than 5 minutes to create that scam.

FAKE CELEBRITIES PROMOTE ELON MUSK INVESTMENT SCAM

In 2023, NBC News reported viewing dozens of videos using computer-manipulated images and audio of well-known celebrities including CBS News anchor Gayle King, former Fox News host Tucker Carlson and HBO host Bill Maher —  all falsely claiming Musk had invented a technologically advanced investment platform.

CANADIAN COUPLE LOSE NEARLY $10,000

A Canadian couple lost nearly $10,000 to scammers who used a deep fake conversation with whom they believed was their son and who claimed to have been in an accident and needed money wired urgently to pay for bail and legal bills.

THE FAMOUS TOM HANKS DENTAL PLAN FAKE

Actor Tom Hanks had to release a statement warning that the video of him promoting dental plans that was circulating on social media was a complete fake. But the fake was so good many people seemed to have a hard time telling that it wasn’t really Tom Hanks.

GAYLE KING FANS TRICKED WITH DEEPFAKE DIET PROMO

Similarly, TV host Gayle King also had to issue public statements warning her fans that a very convincing video of her promoting a new weight loss product was a deepfake that was manipulating both her face and voice. Even with the denial, many of her fans didn’t believe that it wasn’t her.