3 accused of using AI to impersonate CEOs in $129M fraud scheme
FILE-A computer screen displays the acronym AI for Artificial Intelligence. (Photo By David Zorrakino/Europa Press via Getty Images)
Three people accused of utilizing artificial intelligence to impersonate corporate executives and lawyers to steal $129 million were indicted on charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
Jacob Soall, 41, Sharon Hazan, 54, and Guy Sheetrit, 42, targeted companies globally in their AI scheme, The Associated Press reported, citing an indictment filed in a U.S. District Court in New York.
Soall, Hazan, and Sheetrit were also charged with money laundering. If convicted, each of the charges have a maximum sentence of 20 years, except for aggravated identity theft, which is two years, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York told the AP.
AI fraud scheme
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Jacob Soall, Sharon Hazan, and Guy Sheetrit, who have nicknames that include "Rocky Balboa," "Superman Cash" and "Fat Boy," often targeted the organizations’ accounting departments.
Citing court documents, The Associated Press reported that the trio would send an email alleging to be from the CEO and asking for assistance with a confidential financial transaction.
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The group would also arrange a phone or video call where they used AI to emulate the voice and sometimes the image of the CEO.
Soall, Hazan, and Sheetrit, would then tell them to contact an attorney at a law firm, who the group was also ready to impersonate, court documents noted.
Soall primarily imitated lawyers from the UK and had a "handwritten script titled ‘Lawyer Call’ that he used to make himself appear to be an actual attorney when speaking with and defrauding victims."
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The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York shared with the AP that an impersonated lawyer would tell the worker to wire large payments to bank accounts globally.
The money was then converted into cryptocurrency to attempt to hide where it came from and then distributed to Soall, Hazan, and Sheetrit and others involved, the AP noted, referencing court documents.
The Source: Information for this story was provided by The Associated Press, which cites the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and court documents. This story was reported from Washington, D.C.