AI voice clone of a CEO convinces U.K. energy firm employee to wire $243,000 to criminals
Published · updated · curated by AI Is Going Just Great
Source: nixonpeabody.com ↗
Recognizing someone's voice may no longer be sufficient to adequately verify identity for a business transaction.
An employee at a U.K.-based energy firm wired $243,000 to a criminal's bank account after a phone call from what he believed was the CEO of the firm's parent company. It was AI-generated audio. He told police he recognized the "slight German accent and the melody" of the voice.
The funds were swept out of a Hungarian bank account to Mexico and other locations. The criminals came back with a second and a third transfer request; those raised suspicions and the employee did not complete them. No suspects have been identified. Nixon Peabody reports this as the first cybercrime in which criminals clearly used artificial intelligence to execute the crime.