In 2019, cyber criminals used deepfake to impersonate the voice of the CEO of a German company. and demand a fraudulent transfer of €220,000 ($243,000).
They tricked the CEO of a U.K.-based energy firm, into urgently wiring said funds to a Hungarian supplier in an hour. Later that day, the criminals made another call, again impersonating the German CEO, and asked for a second payment. He became suspicious and immediately called the authorities.
Unfortunately, the money that was transferred to the Hungarian bank account was already moved to a bank account in Mexico and distributed to other locations.
Making it harder for the authorities to trace. Several officials said that this was the first cybercrime using a voice-spoofing attack in Europe. Authorities are yet to determine the culprits behind the cybercrime operation.
Luckily, the firm was insured by Euler Hermes Group, which covered the entire cost of the payment. AI-based impersonation attacks are just the beginning of what could be major headaches for businesses and organizations in the future.
