Deepfake Scams to Watch Out for in 2024 | Trend Micro News (2024)

Deepfake videos, face-swapping, voice cloning… doesn’t it feel like in recent years there’s nothing we can trust anymore? Artificial Intelligence (AI) has fueled the development of deepfake technology, blurring the boundaries of what is real and what is fake. Keep reading to check the top deepfake scams you should watch out for in 2024.

Cybercriminals use deepfakes to impersonate celebrities, public figures, or corporate executives for various malicious purposes, causing severe consequences such as financial losses and reputational damage. Sextortion schemes, for example, have become more rampant than before due to AI. Deepfakes make it easier for criminals to create fake explicit content by manipulating victims’ social media photos and videos; they then use the content for sextortion and harassment, as the FBIhave warned.

We conducted in-depth research on the malicious uses of AI with EUROPOL and the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI)back in 2020, and the trend is still rising.

According to the World Economic Forum, the amount of deepfake content increased by 900% between 2019 and 2020 alone. As AI continues to advance, experts suggest that by 2026 a vast majority of online content could be AI-generated, making it more challenging for people to verify the legitimacy of content in the future.

It is estimated that in 2023, 26% of small companies and 38% of large companies experienced deepfake-related fraud, leading to substantial monetary losses. Studies also show that at least 1 in 10 companies have been targeted by deepfakes.

We’ve all heard about online romance scams in which scammers impersonate someone else, like a military service member based overseas, and ask for money online. While most of us think we know all the tricks and won’t fall victim, scammers are employing new tactics using advanced deepfake technology to exploit people.

Historically, one of the red flags of a romance scam is that the scammers won’t join a video call or meet you in person. However, with deepfake face-swapping apps, scammers can now get away with doing video calls — they can win your trust easily with a fake visual that makes you believe the person on the video call is real.

That’s how the “Yahoo Boys” upgraded their tactics. Notorious since the late 1990s, the Yahoo Boys used to send scammy Yahoo mails to carry out various scams like phishing and advanced-fee fraud. Today, the Yahoo Boys use fake video calls powered by deepfake technology, earning the trust of victims across dating sites and social media.

These types of deepfake romance scams can get pretty creative. In 2022, Chikae Ide, a Japanese Manga artist, revealed that she lost $75 million yen (almost half a million USD) to a fake “Mark Ruffalo” online. Although she was suspicious at first, it was the convincing deep fake video call that removed her doubts about transferring money.

With deepfake technology, scammers can pose as ANYONE, for example, impersonating recruiters on popular job sites such as LinkedIn.

Scammers offer what may appear as a legitimate online job interview. They use deepfake audio and face swapping technology to convince you that the interviewer is from a legitimate employer. Once you receive confirmation of a job offer, you are asked to pay for the starter pack and asked to share your personal information such as bank details for salary set-up.

They also pose as interviewee candidates. The FBI warned that scammers may use deepfake technology and people’s stolen PII to create fake candidate profiles. Scammers apply for remote jobs, with the goal of accessing sensitive company customer and employee data, resulting in further exploitation.