Deceptive deepfake love schemes netted an estimated $46 million from males in various Asian regions, according to authorities.
But Hong Kong authorities state that these men became victims of a scam involving deceptive AI technology, known as deepfakes, which lured them into handing over over $46 million.
At a press conference on Monday, Hong Kong police announced the arrest of more than two dozen individuals believed to be part of this alleged scam ring. This group is said to have targeted men in locations ranging from Taiwan to Singapore, and even as far as India.
The arrested individuals include 21 men and 6 women, who were detained on charges of conspiracy to defraud. The operation center for this scam was reportedly raided at a 4,000-square-foot industrial unit in Hung Hom district.
The suspects, aged between 21 and 34, are generally well-educated. Many of them are graduates in digital media and technology, who were allegedly recruited by the scam ring after attending local universities. The suspects are said to have collaborated with IT specialists abroad to create a fraudulent cryptocurrency platform.
Deepfakes are a type of fake content, including videos and audio, produced using AI. This technology is being utilized increasingly by criminals, whether for spreading misleading information or to deceive online scammers.
These so-called "pig-butchering" scams, named after the process of gradually financially draining the victims, are an enormous, illicit industry. The scammers create fictitious online personas, build a relationship with the victims, and eventually persuade them to invest in false crypto sites. Deepfakes serve as just another tool in their arsenal to manipulate innocent victims.
It's commonly believed that these types of scams are run by Chinese gangs based in Southeast Asia. However, it remains unclear to what extent these scams are prevalent in Hong Kong, a city with a strongly law-enforcement presence that has long sought to educate its citizens about telephone scams.
Recently, the increasing realism of deepfake technology has elevated the stakes and sparked heightened caution from law enforcement authorities.
In January, a significant British multinational design and engineering firm in Hong Kong lost $25 million due to fraudsters utilizing deepfake technology to impersonate the company's CFO and other staff members.
As per Hong Kong police, the deepfake scam of this romance group typically begins with a text message, in which the sender poses as an attractive woman who claims to have mistakenly added the wrong number.
The alleged scammers then establish online relationships with their victims, creating a sense of intimacy and emotional bond before strategically planning their futures together.
The group was highly organized, with various departments handling different stages of the scam. They even had a training manual teaching members how to carry out the con by exploiting the victim's trust and emotions.
Steps involved in the con included learning about a victim's worldview, inventing problems to further convince the victim, and finally painting a rosy future involving travel plans to entice the victim into investing.
The scam ran for about a year before police gathered intelligence about it in August. Upon raiding the operation center, authorities seized over 100 mobile phones, the equivalent of nearly $26,000 in cash, and several luxury watches.
After announcing the arrests, Hong Kong police mentioned that the targets of this scam extended beyond their city, reaching as far as India in Asia. Furthermore, the deepfake technology used in this scam was not only harmful within Asia but also led to a significant financial loss for a British multinational company based in the world.
