An accountant at a Missouri hospital system received a call from what sounded like the CEO, demanding an urgent wire transfer. A lawyer followed up to finalize the transaction. By the time executives realized the truth, $4.8 million was gone.
Both voices were AI-generated, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The same scheme unfolded over 18 months starting in July 2024, defrauding companies in the U.S. and Europe of more than $129 million. Victims included a British fintech firm ($11.6M), a Florida pet food company ($5M), a California hospital ($3M), a Massachusetts mutual fund ($4.7M), and a Rhode Island bank ($2.7M).
Authorities in Britain and Spain arrested Jacob Soall, Sharon Hazan, and Guy Sheetrit. The three men face charges of wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering. They are awaiting extradition to the U.S. Prosecutors said the defendants used real names from top law firms and impersonated executives via deepfake video calls.
Hany Farid, a Dartmouth computer science professor, noted that voice cloning now takes under a minute, and avatar deepfakes can be created from a single photo. Federal prosecutors said the stolen funds were converted into cryptocurrency to conceal their origin.
Source: New York Times Top Stories · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing