In the first half of this year, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner received nearly 600 inquiries about obtaining citizens' personal data for fraudulent purposes, an increase of nearly 90% from the 312 cases in the same period last year. The public and organizations are reminded to beware of the endless fraud methods used by fraudsters. Hidden Commissioner Chung Liling even personally demonstrated the use of artificial intelligence deepfake fraud videos, saying, "In the era of artificial intelligence, a video may not necessarily contain the truth." Scammers may use pictures or recordings of officials or celebrities to create deepfakes through artificial intelligence. ) technology, real-time face-changing, pretending to be officials, celebrities, or relatives and friends of the victim, to lure citizens into investing. Members of the public should "pause and think" before providing personal data.
AI deep fake real-time face-changing, pretending to be officials or celebrities to lure citizens into investing
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner stated that in the digital age, it is becoming increasingly common for citizens to use smartphones, social media platforms or shop online, but this also provides opportunities for fraudsters to take advantage of them. In addition to the more common instant messaging software and phone scams, the PCPD has also noticed new fraud methods, using artificial intelligence deepfake technology to change faces in real time to lure people into investing. Privacy Commissioner Chung Liling personally demonstrated real-time face swapping through deep forgery technology.
The PCPD pointed out that fraudsters may use artificial intelligence deepfake technology to create fraudulent videos, including tampering with public footage and using pictures or recordings of officials or celebrities to lure citizens into investing in fake videos. In addition, fraudsters may obtain other people's biometric information such as faces and voices from social media, video calls or videos published online, and then pretend to be the victim's relatives, friends or company colleagues, thereby defrauding the victim of money and/or personal information.
In addition, the PCPD has noticed that the demand for outbound travel has increased recently, and fake travel agency pages have appeared on social media platforms, pretending to sell travel products such as hotels, dining packages and air tickets, in order to defraud victims of their money. Scammers will also use fake advertisements to trick people into providing personal information or participating in false investment plans.
"Pause, think, think" and build a "human firewall" for yourself
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner calls on citizens and organizations to be wary of various fraud techniques, especially fraudulent videos using artificial intelligence deepfakes, and to build a "human firewall" for themselves.
First of all, you should be alert and "pause and think" before providing personal information to understand the purpose of the other party collecting information and whether relevant information must be provided; do not click or scan suspicious hyperlinks, QR codes and websites at will. In addition, pay attention to whether there are any unusual login records in the account, and whether there are any unauthorized transfers or charges in the bank account or credit card; and protect the password, change it from time to time, and enable the two-factor authentication function for account login.
The PCPD reminds you that if you suspect that your personal data has been leaked, you can make inquiries or complaints through the personal data anti-fraud hotline (3423 6611). If you find that your personal information has been misappropriated and criminal offenses are involved, you should also report it to the police as soon as possible. If you are in doubt, you can search for suspicious phone numbers, email addresses, website addresses, etc. through the "Anti-Fraud Video Tool".
Original website: Hong Kong 01
