A new way to steal your crypto funds is through the use of AI.
As the use cases of AI increase, it creates numerous opportunities for attackers to steal.
Attackers employ a well-known AI strategy, known as deep fake, to steal crypto assets.
What Is Deep Fake?
Deep fake is creating a video or audio using AI, which includes a famous person to promote a crypto project or investment.
These AI-generated videos or audio appear authentic and arebecoming increasingly sophisticated and accessible. This has led to growing concerns about its potential misuse for unethical purposes like cryptocurrency fraud.
In recent years, these types of deep fake scams have been on the rise in the cryptocurrency realm. Adding to the concern in the crypto world, where anonymity is a key factor, it becomes easier to abscond with the money.
How a Deep Fake Scam Is Done
Look, there are many ways to use deep fake, but here I’ll outline some of the common techniques used by scammers to ensure you’re not caught up in a deep fake scheme.
The most common way scamsters use is by reaching out over social media or email, claiming to represent a new and lucrative crypto investment opportunity. To build trust and credibility, they will point interested investors towards a website featuring a video interview with a supposed founder or executive or a famous celebrity.
Obviously, the video is fake and shows individuals enthusiastically describing the project’s technology and profit potential.
For further illustration, in 2022 a fake crypto account shared a deep fake interview video featuring Elon Musk talking about a “new investment project” that people should put their money into to make “30% dividends every day for the rest of their life.”
https://medium.com/media/6e84dcb221c67f36498ef7e7b82465a4/href
If you noticed something amiss with Elon’s voice in the above tweet, it’s because the video is a deep fake that manipulates previous footage of the world’s richest man to make it seem like he is saying something he isn’t.
Another deep fake video of former CEO of FTX Sam Bankman-Fried went viral, where scammers used old interview footage of Bankman-Fried and a voice emulator to direct users to a malicious website promising to “double your cryptocurrency.”
https://medium.com/media/6bc4bd25a3fb021dfdc77d4b575f9e82/href
Not only famous people, the attackers target the employees or executives of a legit well-known crypto firm to make their deep fake to promote spammy crypto projects.
A recent example is Binance Chief Communications Officer Patrick Hillmann reported that scammers are making deep fakes of his image in Zoom calls to scam crypto executives.
Adding to the challenge, the anonymity nature of cryptocurrency also makes this type of fraud harder to trace and prosecute. Payments made to crypto wallets generally cannot be reversed, enabling scammers to quickly cash out on their takings without easy recovery by victims or authorities.
However, there are some measures you can take to avoid becoming a victim of these attacks.
Measure to Avoid Deep Fake Scam
Scrutinize Before Investing
Carefully examine investment opportunities, most importantly promoters, who reach out unsolicited.
Be especially wary of offers tied to fake celebrity endorsements or guaranteed high returns.
Check the Authenticity
Now it is hard to tell that the video or audio you’re shown or listened to is legit because now anyone having a bit of technical know how is able to create highly realistic deep fakes that are challenging to identify.
So look for signs of manipulation in videos, such as inconsistent backgrounds, lighting, or lip movements.
Verify the Source
Another step you can take is to check the source of video or audio.
Especially in promotions, do check multiple independent sources to verify identities and claims.
Deep fakes rely on presenting a seamless false narrative, so seeking additional confirmation is crucial.
Report Suspicious Activity
You can also report suspicious communications to relevant authorities and watchdog groups monitoring deep fake crimes.
Stay Aware
It is important as a crypto investor to be aware of the things happening in the crypto world.
Because deep fake technology is also growing more accessible to attackers. There are now apps and open source code available that allow even non-experts to generate high quality fake videos with minimal effort and computing resources.
As awareness spreads, cryptocurrency investors need to stay vigilant against schemes leveraging synthetic media and AI. Perpetrators will continue refining their techniques and crisis actors to better dupe unwitting victims.
Conclusion
Whether you want it or not, a deep fake is here. So countermeasures are essential to avoid becoming the next target of a convincing yet fraudulent deep fake promotion.
Furthermore, it is crucial for authorities and industry stakeholders to give priority to addressing the genuine risks posed by deep fakes. Proactive measures like mandating verified IDs could aid in mitigating anonymous scams. However, effectively tackling this growing threat demands a delicate balance between security and the privacy and decentralization principles that underlie cryptocurrency.
In the emerging digital landscape, all participants bear a responsibility in ensuring the ethical development and use of AI.
Decoding Deep Fake Cryptocurrency Scams: A Guide to Identifying and Preventing Fraud was originally published in Coinmonks on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.