Deniz 
A warning has been issued by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission on the penetration of the cryptocurrency business by deepfake frauds.
An organization calling itself Quantum AI or AI Quantum used deepfake videos of famous entrepreneur Elon Musk to trick people into thinking he was the platform’s creator, according to the commission.
Make no mistake: this is not the same as NASA’s Quantum AI Lab (QuAIL), which is involved in quantum computing research but has nothing to do with the deceitful endeavors at hand. Scammers are using deepfakes more and more to trick people out of their money, taking advantage of the fast development of AI.
Deepfakes are videos or audio clips that use artificial intelligence algorithms to realistically imitate the voice and facial expressions of a specific person. Scammers use deepfakes to set up video chats with unsuspecting victims; these calls allow the imposter to change their look and assume the victim’s identity.
“The Yahoo Boys” are an infamous Nigerian organization that has been using deepfakes to pull off romance frauds. The defendants in this case were a Hong Kong-based organization that advertised AI-powered cryptocurrency trading services.
The organization may have been a front for fraudulent virtual asset activities, nevertheless, according to the police. Officials issued a warning after discovering the organization had used three websites and two Facebook accounts to conduct cryptocurrency scams.
The con artists used Elon Musk’s deepfake videos to make their scheme more legitimate by making him look like the technology’s creator. They went to extreme lengths, such as making a fake “news” website, to spread false information about their services and trick potential victims even more.
The Hong Kong police wasted no time in taking action, blocking the group’s online presence but how much harm the swindle actually did is anybody’s guess.
Deepfake Scams Target Crypto Investors
Scammers have used deepfakes starring Elon Musk to pull off similar frauds before. In a different incident that occurred in April, con artists posing as Musk on Instagram stole $50,000 from a South Korean woman.
The deepfake Musk even embarked on a video call with the woman, and the imposter showed affection during the session. “When we made a video call, Musk even said ‘I love you, you know that?'” the victim explained—as she told 60 Minutes.
According to reports, Singapore’s prime minister Lee Hsien Loong has also sent a warning to his social media followers about deepfake videos that pose as him and encourage cryptocurrency frauds.
Scammers had devised a fake “hands-free crypto trading” scheme, and Loong had even published an example video of themselves being interviewed to promote it.