Deepfake technology has put the public on edge. Thanks to advanced AI technology, it can prove quite a challenge to prove what is conclusively true or not. But as hard as a task it could be for the general public, even multi-million dollar business conglomerates are not safe from Deepfake’s menace. It is not just being used to defame people but rather companies are also being cheated. One such case from Hong Kong is sure to send shivers down the spine. A multinational company just lost $25 million (about ₹207.6 crores) in a deepfake scam.
In a case first of its kind, deepfake videos of many employees of the company were made using which another employee of the company was tricked. The scammers used deepfakes to victimize an employee of the company's Hong Kong branch. They reportedly created deepfake videos of the company's Chief Finance Officer and many other employees. After this, company employees were included in a video conference in which the poor employee was asked to transfer the money.
Shockingly, all the employees except the victim were fake in the video call. The scammers used videos and other footage available on public platforms to achieve this feat, so that every person present in the meeting seemed real.
The Police are investigating this matter and say that this is the first case of its kind in Hong Kong. In this case, the police did not reveal any information about the company or its employee. The finance department of the branch had informed the police about this fraud that took place in Hong Kong. According to the police, the employee who was a victim of the scam followed the information given during the call. He had transferred 200 million Hong Kong dollars by making 15 transactions in 5 different bank accounts.
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, which even prompted US lawmakers to take action against the menace of Deepfake. The photos - which showed the singer in sexually suggestive positions - were viewed tens of millions of times before being removed from social platform, further highlighting the dangers that this AI technology poses.