CFO deceived by a deepfake: scammed with a video call for half a million dollars.

Despite the fact that security in the IT field is a top priority in the vast majority of companies, businesses, and corporations, it seems that keeping up a valid protection is becoming increasingly difficult. As a result of this rapid rise of artificial intelligence, and related technologies, a point of real exasperation has been reached: any email, message or communication could be fraudulent.

The chief financial officer of a Singapore company was recently scammed by a group of cyber criminals. Using deepfake technology, the attackers managed to stage an actual video call with the victim, making him believe he was inside a business meeting. The scam was so convincing that the criminals managed to obtain the transfer of nearly $500,000.

The original plan called for a second transfer, of about 1.4 million Singapore dollars, but the victim noticed the ambiguity of the communications, and then alerted the Hong Kong police and the Singapore Anti-Craft Center.