A finance employee at a global company was deceived into transferring $25 million after participating in a video call with individuals who used deepfake technology to impersonate the company's chief financial officer and other staff members, as reported by the Hong Kong police.

During a briefing, the police explained how the scam involved a sophisticated video conference where the employee believed he was interacting with his colleagues. However, all participants were fabricated using deepfake technology, creating highly realistic imitations. Senior superintendent Baron Chan Shun-ching highlighted the incident during a press conference, noting the employee's initial skepticism due to a suspicious message supposedly from the firm’s UK-based chief financial officer discussing a confidential transaction.

Despite initial doubts, the convincing appearances and voices of the supposed colleagues on the video call persuaded the employee to authorize the transfer of 200 million Hong Kong dollars (approximately $25.6 million).

This incident is part of a growing trend where fraudsters exploit deepfake technology to carry out financial scams, as indicated by six arrests made by Hong Kong police in connection to similar frauds. The police also discovered the misuse of stolen Hong Kong identity cards for fraudulent loan applications and bank account registrations, with deepfakes being used to bypass facial recognition security measures on at least 20 instances.

The fraudulent transaction came to light only after the employee verified the details with the company's headquarters. The identity of the company and the employee involved have not been disclosed by the police.

CNN