British engineering firm Arup has confirmed that it has been the victim of a serious deepfake scam, after one of its Hong Kong-based employees was duped into sending $25 million to fraudsters.
in a statementArup confirmed that the company was involved, but attempted to limit the damage to the company’s reputation, saying, “Our financial stability and business operations were not affected and none of our internal systems were compromised. “
Scammers identified themselves as “senior officers of the company” fake voices and imaginationAs reported by Hong Kong police earlier this year when a staff member was duped into transferring large amounts of money in a fake call.
Police said an employee was invited onto a conference call with several other people who “looked like real people”. The unsuspecting individual transferred a total of HK$200 million (USD $25 million) to five local bank accounts through 15 individual transactions.
So far, no arrests have been made but investigation into the case classified as “obtaining property by deception” is ongoing.
Audacious cyber attacks are increasing in sophistication and frequency
Arup, a multinational design firm, is famous for its involvement in world-famous landmarks such as the Sydney Opera House, where it provided structural engineering work; Sagrada Familia in Barcelona; and the Olympic Stadium (Bird’s Nest) in Beijing. Arup employs approximately 18,000 people worldwide.
The company’s chief information officer Rob Greig wanted this significant incident to sound as an alarm bell to other businesses and organizations, as he revealed that he had been targeted before. cyber attacksInvolved deepfake,
“Like many other businesses around the world, our operations are subject to regular attacks, including invoice fraud, phishing scams, WhatsApp voice spoofing and deepfakes. What we have seen is that the number and complexity of these attacks has been increasing rapidly in recent months,” he said.
Image Credit: Ideogram
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