British multinational Arup confirmed victim of HK$200 million deepfake scam that used digital CFO to dupe Hong Kong employees

A major UK-based multinational company admitted that it had been affected. deepfake scam In the case, an employee in the company’s Hong Kong office was tricked into transferring HK$200 million (US$25.6 million) by a digital recreation of the company’s chief financial officer.

Hong Kong police did not name the companies involved when they reported the scam in February, but London-based design and engineering firm Arup announced Friday that it was the victim. The force said it was the first time officers in the city had come across a fake video conference used in such a scheme.

Police said that in mid-January, employees in the Hong Kong branch’s finance department received a phishing message that appeared to be from the UK-based company’s chief financial officer (CFO) and required them to carry out secret transactions. I received a phishing message.

The staff member participated in a video conference with what appeared to be the company’s CFO and other representatives and was instructed to make 15 transfers totaling HK$200 million to five bank accounts in January.

“Back in January, we reported a fraud incident to the police in Hong Kong. Unfortunately, as this incident is still the subject of an ongoing investigation, we are unable to go into further detail at this stage.” said an Arup spokesperson.

“Our financial stability and business operations were not affected and our internal systems were not compromised.”

Rob Greig, the company’s chief information officer, said he hoped Arup’s experience would help raise awareness of the sophistication and evolving methods of these fraudsters.

“Like many other businesses around the world, our business is subject to regular attacks such as invoice fraud, phishing, WhatsApp voice spoofing and deepfakes,” he said.

“What we’ve seen is that the number and sophistication of these attacks has increased exponentially in recent months.”

According to the company’s website, Arup’s Hong Kong office has more than 2,200 staff and has worked on projects such as Hong Kong International Airport, the West Kowloon Cultural District, and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge.

The 78-year-old company employs more than 18,500 designers, advisors and professionals in 140 countries around the world.

Some of its most notable projects include the Sydney Opera House, Beijing National Stadium, and Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands.

Hong Kong police said everyone on the video call except the victim was an imposter imitating the real person.

A police investigation revealed that the participants were digitally recreated by scammers using publicly available private video and audio footage.