- Hong Kong police arrested 31 people for investment and romance scams
- They used deepfakes to fraud victims and earned about $4.3M
Hong Kong police conducted an operation in which they arrested a group of 31 people who engaged in investment and romance scams using AI-generated deepfakes.
The victims were mainly from Southeast Asia, specifically Taiwan, Malaysia, and Singapore, and collectively suffered ~$4.3M in damages.
More About the Group’s Crimes
The Commercial Crime Bureau of the Hong Kong police provided some details of how the criminal organization operated.
The group of 21 men and six women later arrested rented a 4000-square-foot base of operations in Hung Hom from where they conducted their operations. They chose victims mainly from countries with more affluent populations and studied them beforehand.
According to Superintendent Fung Pui-Kei:
“Recruits would be trained to use different dating apps to fish for targets, who would usually be based in Taiwan or [Southeast] Asia, such as Singapore and Malaysia.”
They generated the faces of attractive girls and then began romantic conversations. The criminals went further than generated photos and used video calling to create more trust.
According to Superintendent Fung Pui-Kei:
“They also make use of the new technology, like AI face-swapping technology, to [pretend] to be some good-looking ladies and gentlemen to induce potential victims, gain their trust, and develop into romance relationships in order to commence the romance scams.”
In the course of this, victims were introduced to a scam investment scheme and the victims either voluntarily parted with the money or shared their personal information which later allowed them to steal the funds. In the course of the operations they managed to earn ~$4.3M, but the figure will be reviewed during the investigation. Also during the search of their premises were found in addition to the cash – luxury items such as expensive watches, handbags, and the like.
Also, Hong Kong police say that this is not the first crime of this kind and in October they arrested a group working on the same principle. Moreover, they link the arrest of the current group to two others who are now under surveillance.
Conclusion
This is not the first time we realize that any advanced technology is a double-edged sword and its impact can vary greatly depending on whose hands it is in.
Be aware and stay tuned.
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