Hong Kong CNN —She appeared to be a beautiful woman and in the minds of men across Asia, the video calls they spoke on confirmed their newfound love was real.
But Hong Kong police say the men had fallen prey to a romance scam that used deepfake artificial intelligence to lure its victims into parting with more than $46 million.
In a news conference Monday, police in the Asian financial hub announced the arrests of more than two dozen members of the alleged scam ring, which they say targeted men from Taiwan to Singapore and as far away as India.
But increasingly realistic deepfake technology has raised the stakes and put authorities on high alert.
According to Hong Kong police, the romance gang’s deepfake scam typically began with a text message, in which the sender – posing as an attractive woman – said they had mistakenly added the wrong number.
Persons:
Hong Kong CNN —, “, –, scammers, ”
Organizations:
Hong Kong CNN, Hong, Police, Facebook
Locations:
Hong Kong, Asia, Taiwan, Singapore, India, Southeast Asia, British