Whether it is illicit advertising operations or actual cases of fraud, i deepfake are an ever-increasing concern.
The most recent cybercriminal campaign, in this sense, is spreading in South Africa. The president of the country pays the price Cyril Ramaphosa and also Elon Musk. The image of the CEO of TeslaIn fact, it has been exploited in some deepfake videos used to steal money or personal information.
According to what was stated by Jean le Rouxresearcher at Digital Forensic Research Lab, this modus operandi of cybercriminals is a real double-edged sword. On the one hand, this practice allows you to add considerable credibility to scams, on the other hand an operation of this type is inevitably soon unmasked.
As underlined, however, cybercriminals do not need to target millions of victims: a small number is enough to guarantee them very high revenues.
Deepfake and Elon Musk: incredibly realistic features, tone and accent
The Elon Musk deepfake apparently features a video with a fake TV broadcast in which the tycoon advocates a particular investment plan.
Specifically, the film presents a revolutionary software, presumably developed by Musk himself, who invested 4,700 South African Rand (around 230 euros) would allow you to obtain up to 30,000 (approx 1.470 euro) per month.
What makes the deepfake video convincing is the care with which it was created. In addition to appearancesAlso tone and accent of the famous South African entrepreneur make the film quite credible.
This type of scam, however, is not unique. On Xa platform owned by Musk himself, was recently promoted as a fake cryptocurrency, advertised as X token. The accounts involved, even if certified, used Elon Musk’s image to make the scam more credible.
The case involving the famous tycoon is not the first of its kind: even characters like Tom Hanks e MrBeast have recently been victims of deepfakes.