The dawn of a new era in scams: Employee transfers $25 million as instructed by the company's chief financial officer in a deepfake video conference call

Gone are the days when you could spot a phishing email after bad grammar and poorly designed logos.

In a shocking example of how advanced technology can be exploited, scammers used deepfake tech to set up a fake video conference, convincing a finance worker to transfer $25 million.

The specific company in Hong Kong hasn't been named by the police. But, according to a news report, the employee got fooled by recognizing his colleagues and the company's chief financial officer in the video call.

It all began with an email

The employee of the Hong Kong branch of a multinational firm received a message allegedly from the company's UK-based chief financial officer. Though Initially suspicious it might be a phishing attempt, doubts dissolved upon joining the subsequent conference call and seeing what appeared to be his genuine colleagues and the CFO.

During the bogus call, scammers gave the employee orders to transfer the money to five separate Hong Kong bank accounts, and he did 15 transfers totaling $25 million.

Scammers used deepfake technology to turn publicly available video and other footage of staff members into convincing meeting participants. The entire episode lasted a week.

The scam was only discovered when the employee later checked with the company's head office, the SCMP said.

Deepfake videos, a new sort of fraud

Fake videos are improving in quality and becoming more common, blurring the line between genuine and fabricated content. For example, a deepfake of Jennifer Aniston promoting a "MacBook giveaway" recently went viral on YouTube. Similarly, a digitally created version of Taylor Swift was used this month to promote a fake Le Creuset cookware giveaway on Facebook and TikTok.

Learn more to stay safe:

Deepfakes: what they are, how they work and how to protect against malicious usage in the digital age

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