A growing wave of deepfake fraud has resulted in the theft of millions of dollars from companies around the world, and cybersecurity experts warn that the situation may worsen as criminals exploit generative artificial intelligence for scams. Deepfake technology refers to a video, audio, or image of a real person that has been digitally altered and manipulated, often through AI, to commit convincing fraud.
In one of the largest known cases this year, a financial employee in Hong Kong was tricked into transferring over $25 million to scammers using deepfake technology, who disguised themselves as colleagues during a video call, according to authorities who spoke to local media in February. Last week, the British engineering firm "Arup" confirmed to CNBC that it was the company involved in this case, but it was unable to provide further details due to the ongoing investigation.
David Ferman, Chief Information and Security Officer at cybersecurity company "Netskope," stated that such threats have increased due to the mainstreaming of OpenAI's ChatGPT, launched in 2022, which quickly pushed generative AI technology into the limelight. Ferman noted, "The public access to these services has lowered the entry barrier for cybercriminals—they no longer need specialized technological skills." He added that the scale and complexity of scams have expanded as AI technology continues to evolve.
