Fraudsters stole $25 million from a large company with the help of dipfakes of its executives

Last month, a landmark crime was committed in Hong Kong. Attackers sent a letter to an employee of an unnamed multinational company, purportedly from his bosses, instructing him to participate in a video conference on work-related issues. However, he turned out to be the only real person at the conference; all the other images turned out to be skillful dipfakes.

The fraudsters managed to reproduce the appearance, voice and communication style of the company’s executives. In the course of a short conversation, the dipfeiks pressured the live employee and demanded the fulfillment of their orders. The orders were basically to transfer money to various accounts in other banks. In this way the fraudsters managed to steal about $25.6 million, and no one suspected anything.

The police noted that the attackers organized everything well. Thus, after issuing instructions, the dipfeikas of individual managers were hastily disconnected to minimize contact with the employee and the risk of detecting a trick. At some stage, the warehouse employees suspected something was amiss, but the fraudsters managed to change their minds. The conversation and instructions continued via email, messengers and other communication channels.

An important point – before this attack, the fraudsters analyzed the experience of employees and planned everything so that at the right moment at the work computer were people who were not familiar with dipfakes. Also, they did not communicate live with the managers they showed in the dipfakes – because of this the employees were not able to recognize the trick. The investigation into the embezzlement is still ongoing.

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