Hong Kong Deepfake Scam Group Caught Pretending to Be Rich Single Women

Hong Kong police have intercepted more than HK$34 million (US$3.37 million) in scam proceeds as part of an extensive operation targeting victims through the use of artificial intelligence.

According to one report by the South China Morning Post On Saturday, the survey also shed light on some of the new strategies being used by local romance scammers.

Some revolved around pretending to be wealthy single women, with conversation questions including learning Japanese, playing golf and tasting red wine worth more than HK$100,000 ($12,850) per bottle, the report said.

Such strategies were recorded in notebooks seized by local police when officers arrested 31 people.

The arrests were part of a joint operation against a crime syndicate that used AI to generate credible images of attractive women to lure victims into romance and investment fraud.

Byron Boston, a former Dallas police officer and CEO of Crypto Track, told us Declutter that “the integration of deepfake technology and social engineering scams poses significant challenges for cryptocurrency researchers and law enforcement.”

He explained that AI-generated images make criminals more convincing and allow them to carry out more elaborate and sophisticated scams.

“For example, in November 2022, a deepfake video impersonating FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was used in a phishing scheme to target FTX users in an attempt to drain their crypto assets,” Boston points out.

He also said that social engineering scams are insidious “because they often involve lengthy efforts to build trust with victims.”

The seized notebooks also showed that the criminal organization wanted to recruit young people who wanted to make money quickly. They tried to convince their victims that they were talented women in Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia.

Boston noted that “while these advanced methods pose significant hurdles, effective cooperation and rapid action are critical to combating these criminal activities.”

Still, such capabilities are not yet mainstream, and “many local law enforcement agencies in the US lack the necessary tools and expertise to track stolen cryptocurrency or participate in recovery efforts with international exchanges,” Boston added.

Edited by Sebastian Sinclair