A scammer duped a man of over Rs 5 crore using AI face-swapping technology. The victim believed that the scammer was his friend and was in genuine need of money.
The age of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is here and people across the world are finding new ways of using the technology to make their lives simpler. AI is being used to write essays and poems, simplify and explain code, compose poetry and music, and a lot more. Over time, people started realising the possible downsides of the emerging technology as well and creating deepfake images and videos turned out to be one of them. However, a man in Northern China went a step ahead and used deepfake technology to dupe a man of over Rs 5 crore.
For the unversed, deepfakes refer to fake images and videos online that look real and can be used to spread misinformation.
Man dupes victim of over Rs 5 crore using AI
According to a Reuters report, a scammer in Northern China used highly advanced ‘deepfake’ technology and convinced a man to transfer money into his account. The scammer used AI-powered face-swapping technology and impersonated the victim’s close friend.
The police in Baotou city, as per the report, said that the fraudster impersonated the victim’s friend while being on video call and asked him to transfer 4.3 million yuan (around Rs 5 crore).
The victim, believing that his friend was in dire need of money during a bidding process, transferred the amount. The police also revealed that the victim realised what had transpired only after his friend (whom the scammer impersonated) expressed ‘ignorance at the situation’. Also, the police have recovered most of the stolen funds and are working to trace the rest of the amount.
The incident has raised concerns in China over AI being used to carry out financial crimes.