Three charged after impersonating CEOs and attorneys in $129 million deepfake fraud scheme

Three people have been charged in the US after impersonating corporate executives and lawyers as part of a $129 million deepfake fraud scheme.

Jacob Soall, 41, Sharon Hazan, 54, and Guy Sheetrit, 42, allegedly used AI to impersonate the voices and/or images of corporate executives at numerous firms, as well as attorneys at major law firms.

According to the US Department of Justice (DoJ), the aim was to trick employees into sending large payments to bank accounts all over the world controlled by members of the conspiracy.

They generally started off by pretending to be the CEO and saying that they needed an employee’s assistance on a confidential financial transaction. They usually targeted accounts department staff.

Notably, the fraudsters would tell targeted employees to get in touch with lawyers at large international law firms who they claimed were also working on the transaction, and then impersonate these lawyers to make the financial transaction appear legitimate.

These lawyers were mainly impersonated by UK citizen Soall, who kept a handwritten script titled “Lawyer Call” designed to convince victims not to discuss their communications with fellow employees.

One of these "lawyers" would instruct the employee to wire a large sum of money to a bank account under their control.

Israeli citizen Hazan laundered funds from the fraud scheme. He claimed he'd been laundering money since 1994 and had laundered over $400 million in just the past three years. Hazan allegedly described himself as “number one all over the world.”

Sheetrit, of Israel and the United Arab Emirates, also laundered funds from the fraud scheme. The three face charges carrying a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison.

Fraudsters made off with $129 million

All told, the FBI revealed the trio stole more than $129 million, including nearly $5 million from a hospital system headquartered in Missouri, $2.7 million from a bank headquartered in Rhode Island, and $3 million from a hospital system headquartered in California.

They also netted around $11.5 million from a UK-based financial technology company, $4.6 million from a Massachusetts mutual fund company, and $5.2 million from a pet food company based in Florida.

“SI [sic] technology offers tremendous potential. But the public should recognize that there are some who seek to use this emerging technology to pursue criminal goals,” said US attorney Jamie McDonald.

“As alleged, Jacob Soall, Sharon Hazan, and Guy Sheetrit abused groundbreaking super intelligence technology to impersonate real people and deceive corporate executives into sending them and their co-conspirators approximately $129 million."

Deepfake fraud risks are growing

The use of deepfake technology for fraud has become a huge problem for enterprises worldwide, according to research from Gartner. Analysis by the firm found four-in-ten CISOs have reported social engineering attempts involving deepfake calls over the last year.

More than one-third (36%), meanwhile, have experienced the same using video-based deepfakes.

The risks associated with deepfakes mean many businesses are now overhauling traditional processes to counteract these techniques, including tweaks to verification processes and informing staff about expected behaviours.

Elsewhere, Gartner urged organisations to harden protections around high-value workflows and increased investment in tools designed to detect identity abuse.

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