Hong Kong crime ring used deepfake personas and dating apps to steal millions

Hong Kong authorities person dismantled a transgression syndicate that exploited deepfake exertion and dating apps to con victims successful Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia for implicit HK$34 million.

The cognition led to the arrest of 31 individuals and the seizure of HK$100 cardinal successful suspected transgression assets, including cash, luxury handbags, and watches.

The radical operated from 2 rented locations successful Kowloon Bay.

Recruits were trained to make fake online personas utilizing AI-powered deepfake images of charismatic individuals. They past lured victims into online romanticist relationships.

Once spot was established, the scammers persuaded victims to put successful fraudulent crypto platforms.

Victims believed they were profiting from their investments until attempts to retreat funds were met with demands for taxes oregon punishment fees.

Superintendent Charles Fung Pui-kei highlighted the syndicate’s usage of AI tools to heighten their deception.

“They utilized face-swapping exertion to make convincing profiles, tricking victims into believing they were interacting with existent people,” Fung said.

These are each hallmarks of “pig butchering” scams.

Globally, specified scams siphoned implicit $4.4 billion past year, according to TRM Labs.

In probe published earlier this year, the blockchain quality steadfast recovered that 75% of wallets linked to pig butchering scams showed signs of on-chain wealth laundering.

Update January 6: This communicative has been updated to clarify that the Hong Kong Police Force’s Commercial Crime Bureau is accusing the arrested individuals of the crimes.

Kyle Baird is DL News’ Weekend Editor. Got a tip? Email astatine [email protected].