State Crime Office warns of AI deepfake fraud: 212 million euros in damages in Baden-Württemberg
The State Crime Office of Baden-Württemberg is warning of fraud involving AI-generated deepfakes. In the past year alone, damage in the federal state amounted to 212 million euros – the dark figure is significantly higher according to the authority's assessment.
State Crime Office warns of AI deepfake fraud: 212 million euros in damages in Baden-Württemberg
Criminals are increasingly using artificial intelligence to swindle internet users out of their money with forged videos. The State Crime Office in Stuttgart regards this as a serious threat.
In the past year, damage caused by so-called deepfakes in Baden-Württemberg totalled 212 million euros. This was announced by the Economic Crime Department of the state authority. However, this is only the tip of the iceberg, emphasises investigator Oliver Hoffmann. Given the large dark figure, the actual financial loss in the south-west could amount to around one billion euros.
The method works as follows: perpetrators create deceptively authentic video clips in which supposedly trusted individuals provide investment tips or advertise questionable products. One such case involved television doctor Eckart von Hirschhausen. Unknown individuals had digitally copied his voice and altered his mouth movements so that it appeared he was advertising a miracle weight-loss product. The doctor had never made these statements.
Hoffmann appeals to internet users to remain vigilant: videos on the internet are no longer reliable. The technology makes it possible to replicate faces and voices deceptively authentically.
Report: SWR
Source: Google News DE — Crime (de)