The Scarlet Pimp
Supreme Member
- Apr 2, 2008
- 1,319
- 4,307
this won't be the last time this happens...
https://threatpost.com/deep-fake-of-ceos-voice-swindles-company-out-of-243k/147982/
Cyber-crooks successfully fooled a company into a large wire transfer using an AI-powered deep fake of a chief executive's voice, according to a report.
In the first known case of successful financial scamming via audio deep fakes, cyber-crooks were able to create a near-perfect impersonation of a chief executive's voice – and then used the audio to fool his company into transferring $243,000. to their bank account.
A deep fake is a plausible video or audio impersonation of someone, powered by artificial intelligence (AI).
Security experts say that the incident, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, sets a dangerous precedent.
"In the identity-verification industry, we're seeing more and more artificial intelligence-based identity fraud than ever before", David Thomas, CEO of identity verification company Evident, told Threatpost.
"As a business, it's no longer enough to just trust that someone is who they say they are. Individuals and businesses are just now beginning to understand how important identity verification is. Especially in the new era of deep fakes, it's no longer just enough to trust a phone call or a video file."
The WSJ's report, which went live over the weekend, was attributed to the victim company's insurance firm, Euler Hermes Group SA, which declined to name the impacted company but outlined the incident in detail.
The incident kicked off in March, when the CEO of an energy company thought he was speaking via phone to his boss, the chief executive of the firm's German parent company.
The caller on the phone asked the CEO to send the funds – totaling €220,000, or $243,000. to a Hungarian supplier in an "urgent" request, with the promise that it would be reimbursed.
The victim, deceived into thinking that the voice was that of his boss – particularly because it had a similar slight German accent and voice pattern – made the transfer.
However, once the transaction went through, the fraudsters called back, asking for another urgent money transfer.
At that point, the CEO became suspicious and refused to make the payment.
The funds reportedly went from Hungary to Mexico before being transferred to other locations.
Euler Hermes Group SA was able to reimburse the affected company, according to the report.
The incident points to how voice fraud, powered by artificial intelligence, is a burgeoning cyber-security threat to enterprises and consumers alike.
A 2018 report by Pindrop found that voice fraud had jumped 350 percent from 2013 to 2017 – with one in 638 calls synthetically created.
https://threatpost.com/deep-fake-of-ceos-voice-swindles-company-out-of-243k/147982/
Cyber-crooks successfully fooled a company into a large wire transfer using an AI-powered deep fake of a chief executive's voice, according to a report.
In the first known case of successful financial scamming via audio deep fakes, cyber-crooks were able to create a near-perfect impersonation of a chief executive's voice – and then used the audio to fool his company into transferring $243,000. to their bank account.
A deep fake is a plausible video or audio impersonation of someone, powered by artificial intelligence (AI).
Security experts say that the incident, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, sets a dangerous precedent.
"In the identity-verification industry, we're seeing more and more artificial intelligence-based identity fraud than ever before", David Thomas, CEO of identity verification company Evident, told Threatpost.
"As a business, it's no longer enough to just trust that someone is who they say they are. Individuals and businesses are just now beginning to understand how important identity verification is. Especially in the new era of deep fakes, it's no longer just enough to trust a phone call or a video file."
The WSJ's report, which went live over the weekend, was attributed to the victim company's insurance firm, Euler Hermes Group SA, which declined to name the impacted company but outlined the incident in detail.
The incident kicked off in March, when the CEO of an energy company thought he was speaking via phone to his boss, the chief executive of the firm's German parent company.
The caller on the phone asked the CEO to send the funds – totaling €220,000, or $243,000. to a Hungarian supplier in an "urgent" request, with the promise that it would be reimbursed.
The victim, deceived into thinking that the voice was that of his boss – particularly because it had a similar slight German accent and voice pattern – made the transfer.
However, once the transaction went through, the fraudsters called back, asking for another urgent money transfer.
At that point, the CEO became suspicious and refused to make the payment.
The funds reportedly went from Hungary to Mexico before being transferred to other locations.
Euler Hermes Group SA was able to reimburse the affected company, according to the report.
The incident points to how voice fraud, powered by artificial intelligence, is a burgeoning cyber-security threat to enterprises and consumers alike.
A 2018 report by Pindrop found that voice fraud had jumped 350 percent from 2013 to 2017 – with one in 638 calls synthetically created.
