Bloomberg reports that the scam using deepfake software to mimic the faces or voices of executives is escalating rapidly. The latest major company to fall victim to this type of attack is Ferrari.
In the past month, several high-ranking executives at Ferrari received WhatsApp messages purportedly from CEO Benedetto Vigna discussing a confidential new business deal. They were asked to sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) and assist Vigna in this secret deal.
If the recipients responded to the messages, they would receive a call with a fake voice of Vigna speaking in a Southern Italian accent, explaining the need to use a different phone number to discuss the confidential deal urgently requiring international money transfer transactions to maintain competitive exchange rates.
However, one Ferrari executive who received this call became suspicious and requested verification of Vigna’s identity by asking about a recently recommended book that Vigna had mentioned just a few days prior. The scammers were unable to respond and quickly hung up.
The technique of mimicking the voices of executives using deepfake software to deceive employees of large companies is not new. Previously, employees of a company in Hong Kong were deceived into successfully transferring around 900 million baht. Another global company that has disclosed falling victim to this type of attack is WPP, the world’s largest advertising agency, where fake voice of CEO Mark Read was used. As a result, many companies are now beginning to train on methods to differentiate and detect these types of fake impersonation and voice manipulation.
Source – Bloomberg
Image from @Ferrari
TLDR: Bloomberg reports an increase in scam using deepfake technology, with Ferrari being the latest big company affected. Scammers impersonate executives to deceive employees, highlighting the need for companies to enhance fraud detection measures.
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