The police in Hong Kong arrested six individuals on charges of using advanced technology to create fake images used in banking fraud operations to obtain loans in the names of real individuals.
According to the American network “Fox News”, the six suspects were accused of forging images and documents to deceive banks and lenders in a wide fraud gang that was captured by the city police.
Dickin Co Tik, the supervisor of the Cybersecurity and Technological Crimes Bureau, stated: “The gang used artificial intelligence software to alter faces using deepfake technology, in order to submit loan requests online to financial institutions.”
Furthermore, it was declared: “We will continue to work diligently with stakeholders in various industries to hand over internet criminals hiding in the digital world to judicial authorities for accountability.”
The group is accused of using stolen identity cards and forged documents to apply for loans online. The police reported falsification of identities, address proofs, and income data using artificial intelligence technology and submitting them to financial institutions for approval.
Many targeted institutions ask individuals seeking loans to capture a real-time selfie during the application process to verify their identity. According to authorities in Hong Kong, the scammers used artificial intelligence to change their faces to match those appearing on the stolen identity cards.
Authorities indicate that the group submitted over 20 loan requests using artificial intelligence technology, and one request was approved for approximately $9,000. Stolen identity cards were also exploited to apply for 70 additional loans and open 20 bank accounts.
The gang used the stolen identities to register in numerous phone cards and used them to send phishing messages to obtain credit card details and personal information.
The security authorities mentioned that the suspected individuals’ ages range from 31 to 50 years old, and the person arrested, a 35-year-old man during the operation, is believed to be the gang leader.
