Three Men Charged Over AI Impersonation of CEOs and Lawyers
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Three men used AI to pose as company executives and their lawyers, and employees wired them more than $129m, according to US prosecutors.
The charges and the arrests
An indictment unsealed by the US Department of Justice names Jacob Soall, Sharon Hazan and Guy Sheetrit. The US attorney's office for the southern district of New York says the three used AI to fake the voices and likenesses of executives and attorneys at several companies.
Soall and Hazan were arrested in Spain over the summer. Sheetrit was arrested in the United Kingdom in September. The alleged fraud ran between 2024 and 2026.
They face charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, several counts of money-laundering conspiracy and aggravated identity theft.
How the scheme allegedly worked
The men allegedly posed as a corporate executive and approached employees for help with a sensitive financial transaction. They then told the employee to contact lawyers at a large international law firm.
Another impersonation followed: one of the men played a lawyer at that firm and had the employee wire a large sum.
Employees were directed to wire the money to accounts in many countries: the United States, Spain, Portugal, Greece, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Austria, Slovakia and China.
Afterward, the men allegedly converted the funds into cryptocurrency, in the DoJ's words "in an attempt to conceal the source, ownership, and control of the stolen proceeds". The money was then split among the men and their co-conspirators.
Who lost money
The DoJ says the targets included companies in the US and other countries. Losses listed in the report: nearly $5m from a hospital system headquartered in Missouri, about $2.7m from a Rhode Island bank and about $3m from a California hospital system.
A mutual fund headquartered in Massachusetts lost over $4.6m. A pet food company in Florida lost about $5m. A UK tech company lost over $11m.
Soall and Hazan went by several aliases. Soall's nicknames included "Seba Clarke" and "Rocky Balboa". Hazan used "Superman Cash", "Fat Boy" and "Ron".
What officials said
US attorney Jamie McDonald said AI holds real promise, yet the public must be aware that some people will try to turn it to crime.
FBI assistant director in charge James C Barnacle Jr said the case shows how advanced technology can be exploited for large-scale fraud. He added that the FBI intends to keep adapting so it can find, investigate and stop such criminals.
The charges are allegations. The report does not say whether the men have entered pleas or when any trial might begin.
Source: The Guardian