A scammer in China has used artificial intelligence to alter his appearance and pose as a friend of a businessman he swindled out of more than half a million euros, authorities said.
The victim, whose last name was only given (Guo), said he received a video call in April from a person whose face and voice resembled those of a relative.
But the person in front was actually a fraudster “who uses artificial intelligence technology to modify his face,” according to an article published Monday by a media outlet linked to the Fuzhou (east) authorities.
“I didn’t suspect”
As a pretext, the scammer claimed that another friend urgently needed money to pay a security deposit for a tender. He managed to convince the victim to transfer 4.3 million yuan (570,000 euros) from his company’s bank account.
Once the transfer was made, the businessman sent a message to the friend whose identity had been usurped. Given the incomprehensible reaction of his friend, who was obviously not aware of the transaction, the businessman realized his mistake and contacted the police. The latter ordered the bank not to make the transfer and the victim was able to recover 3.4 million yuan (450,000 euros), according to the article. The perpetrators of the scam have not been identified.
Framing the deepfake
The use of artificial intelligence, sometimes for malicious purposes, is receiving increased attention around the world, especially since the US company OpenAI launched ChatGPT in November.
The interface is not accessible in China. But ChatGPT is the subject of countless debates on social media, and Chinese tech giants compete to design equivalent tools.
In January, the country tightened the framework for deepfakes, these increasingly realistic digital manipulations of images that present a challenge in the fight against disinformation.
Authorities will also impose a “security inspection” on Chinese-made AI tools like ChatGPT, according to the draft regulation submitted last month.
Source: BFM TV
