Prosecutors say three people indicted in New York used AI to impersonate executives and attorneys in a scheme that stole about $129 million from thousands of companies worldwide.
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Three people accused of using artificial intelligence to impersonate corporate executives and attorneys to steal about $129 million have been indicted on charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, prosecutors said Thursday.
Prosecutors said the alleged scheme targeted thousands of companies across the world over more than a year and a half, according to the indictment filed in U.S. District Court in New York.
The defendants are identified as Jacob Soall, 41, Sharon Hazan, 54, and Guy Sheetrit, 42. Prosecutors said the victims included hospital systems in Missouri and California, a bank in Rhode Island, a financial technology company in the United Kingdom, a mutual fund company in Massachusetts, and a pet food company in Florida, according to court documents.
According to the indictment, the defendants were charged in addition with money laundering. Prosecutors said the three were arrested between June and September, and that the defendants are from Spain, the UK, Israel and the United Arab Emirates.
Prosecutors said the group often targeted companies’ accounting departments by sending emails that purported to be from a company’s chief executive officer and requesting help with a confidential financial transaction.
The indictment said the defendants then coordinated a phone or video call in which they used AI to mimic the CEO’s voice, and sometimes image.
Prosecutors said the defendants instructed targets to contact an attorney at a major law firm, and they were also prepared to impersonate that attorney, according to court documents.
The U.S. attorney’s office said Soall mainly impersonated attorneys from the UK and had a “handwritten script titled ‘Lawyer Call’” that he used to seem like a real attorney during communications with and defrauding victims.
According to the indictment, the impersonated attorney told employees to wire large payments to bank accounts across the world.
Prosecutors said the funds were then converted into cryptocurrency to try to conceal where they came from, and were distributed to the trio and others involved, according to the indictment.
FBI Assistant Director in Charge James C. Barnacle, Jr. said the case shows how advanced technology can be used for large-scale fraud.
In his statement, Barnacle said, “As criminals continue to weaponize emerging technologies, the FBI remains committed to rapidly adapting our capabilities to identify, investigate, and disrupt those who seek to harm New Yorkers and businesses operating in our communities.”
The attorney’s office said the maximum sentence for each charge is 20 years, except for aggravated identity theft, which is two years.
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