A UK-based multinational company has fallen victim to a deepfake scam after a digitally recreated version of its chief financial officer fooled an employee at the firm’s Hong Kong branch and tricked her into transferring HK$4 million (US$511,968), the Post has learned.
The woman employee received a WhatsApp message on May 20 from a scammer impersonating the executive, requesting a “Zoom” video conference with her the next day, a source familiar with the case said on Thursday.
During the meeting on May 21, the “fake supervisor” told her to transfer around HK$4 million to several bank accounts, claiming that “it was for funding a new branch of the company”, according to the force.
“The employee seeing the familiar appearance and voice of the ‘fake supervisor’ during the video conference unsuspectingly followed the instructions and made multiple transfers of the money to designated bank accounts [on the same day]”, police said on their CyberDefender Facebook page.
The woman realised it was a scam when she made a verification. She then reported it to police.
Fraudsters seemed to have combined “publicly available footage” of the company’s CFO with sophisticated deepfake technology to create his voice and image during the video conference, according to police.
The insider said it was the second deepfake scam reported in Hong Kong.
London-based design and engineering firm Arup lost HK$200 million after an employee at its Hong Kong office was fooled by a digitally recreated version of the firm’s chief financial officer in January.
According to the company’s website, Arup’s office in the city has more than 2,200 staff members and has worked on projects such as Hong Kong International Airport, the West Kowloon Cultural District and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge.
Globally, the 78-year-old firm has more than 18,500 designers, advisers and experts working across 140 countries.
“It’s important to remember that just because there are images, sounds and videos, it doesn’t necessarily mean they represent the truth. Everyone should stay vigilant and develop a habit of verifying facts,” police said on Thursday.
The force said that people must be cautious and make phone calls to relevant parties to clarify the matter before proceeding with the transfers.
“If you receive a call or message from an unfamiliar person claiming to be a relative, supervisor, or anyone else, it is crucial to immediately contact them and verify their identity,” police said.
The city recorded a 42.6 per cent increase in all types of deception last year, with 39,824 reports received, up from 27,923 in 2022.
The amount lost went up by 89 per cent to HK$9.1 billion in 2023 from HK$4.8 billion the year before.