Tag: sybercriminals
UK engineering giant hit by $25m deepfake scam
The firm that lost $25 million to deepfake video scammers in Hong Kong earlier this year has been revealed to be UK-based engineering firm Ove Arup. Ove Arup is known for world landmarks, including the Sydney Opera House. The company employs roughly 18,000 people worldwide and has annual revenues of over £2 billion. In early February of this year, Cyber Intelligence reported that an as-yet-unidentified firm in Hong Kong had been defrauded of roughly US$25 million by criminals using deepfake video technology to pose as the company’s corporate finance officer (CFO) and other trusted colleagues. Not knowing how sophisticated even off-the-shelf deepfake video has become, the staff member who had been targeted was totally duped by what he logically assumed must be his CFO asking him to make the $25 million transfer during the course of an entirely fake but highly convincing video conference. When the attack was originally reported, the Hong Kong police gave a stark warning: