2023-05-28 01:42:25
Artificial intelligence is capable of the best and the worst. It might help you to write a novel or speed up your work if someone exploits it against you to leave you without a euro in your pocket; which is precisely what has happened to an entrepreneur.
As collected ‘Global Times‘, a cybercriminal posed as a friend of his in a video call and managed to trick the owner of a Chinese technology company into sending him a money transfer of more than half a million euros, specifically 4.3 million yuan (570.000 euros). All thanks to the use of artificial intelligence, thanks to which the criminal managed to pass off his voice and his face as that of a friend of the victim.
The criminal came into contact with Guo, which is the name of the scammed businessman, through a video call on the popular Chinese social network WeChat. Then, using the face and voice of a friend, he convinced the victim to make him an income in order to close a deal.
«I received the video call. I verified the face and voice. So I let my guard down », recalls the person affected, who complied with the request of his alleged friend.
The criminal later shared a false invoice stating that the money shared with him had been returned. But Guo did not check. He did not realize that he had been scammed until he contacted the friend who had allegedly requested the sum and he replied that he did not know anything about it.
Guo reported the situation to the authorities. The police of the Asian country have managed to recover most of the money, just over 400,000 euros.
The worst is what is yet to come
In recent years, cybersecurity professionals have warned about the risk of AI being exploited to impersonate people close to the user. Even copying his face and his voice, as has happened in the case of the Chinese businessman. Now, with the rise of ChatGPT and other systems capable of generating content on demand, the risk is increasing.
«Voice and image impersonation is a disturbing and dangerous reality that will only increase thanks to the development of AI. At the moment, cybercriminals have not started to exploit it too much, but it will come, and fast, ”Herve Lambert, head of global operations at cybersecurity company Panda Security, explains in conversation with ABC.
The expert points out that with the rise of AI, which is also tremendously accessible to users, the number of scammers who resort to technology to rob their victims will increase: “The little internet thief, who doesn’t know nothing, he will be able to resort to these methods to attack.
«In the future you will have to distrust everything. Even what your own family tells you on a call. Trust is the big risk behind AI. Public entities must be asked to work with private ones to promote protection measures and regulations so that, when the time comes, we are prepared, ”says the expert.
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