BEIJING, May 22 (Reuters) – A scam in northern China used sophisticated ‘deepfake’ technology to persuade a man to send money to a supposed friend, using artificial intelligence (AI). ) raises concerns about the potential of technology to facilitate financial crime.
China is stepping up its scrutiny of AI-powered fraud, which mostly involves manipulating voice and facial data, and is stepping up its scrutiny of these technologies and apps, with new rules to legally protect victims. was introduced in January.read more
Police in the city of Baotou, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, said the perpetrator used AI-powered face-swapping technology to impersonate a friend of the victim during a video call and received a transfer of 4.3 million yuan ($622,000).
Police said in a statement on Saturday that the man sent the money believing his friend would need to pay a deposit during the bidding process.
Police added that they only realized they had been deceived after the friend expressed ignorance of the situation, and said police had recovered most of the stolen funds and were proceeding with the rest of the chase.
The incident sparked discussions about threats to online privacy and security on microblogging site Weibo, with the hashtag “#AI scams exploding nationwide” being viewed more than 120 million times on Monday. got a number.
“This shows that photos, audio and video can all be used by scammers,” wrote one user. “Can information security rules keep up with the technology of these people?”
($1=6.9121 Chinese Yuan)
Reporting by Ella Cao and Eduardo Baptista.Editing: Clarence Fernandez
Our standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
