A sophisticated deepfake scheme targeted the chair of the US House International Relations Committee, mimicking a high-ranking Ukrainian official in a clear attempt to sway the outcome of an election.
According to reports, the office of Senator Ben Cardin (D-Maryland) received an email on September 19 from someone purporting to be former Ukrainian International Affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba, seeking a Zoom meeting invite.
The subsequent video name from “Kuleba” to Senator Cardin included a series of “politically charged questions” tied to the upcoming US Presidential election, which, according to a security office discovery, were potentially designed to elicit a response from the senator by referencing a political figure.
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The workplace warning emphasized that the targeted senator and Kuleba had previously met, and individuals on the call deemed the deepfake “technically sophisticated” and believable.
As their faces appeared seamless on the screen, the Zoom link established a rock-solid audio-video connection reminiscent of our previous meetings.
Cardin grew increasingly suspicious as he concluded his conversation, and promptly informed the US State Department, which verified that the caller was not Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Kuleba. The FBI has taken up the investigation into this incident.
According to Senate insiders, there is a strong likelihood that the impersonation was perpetrated using an AI-generated deepfake.
Cardinal has corroborated that he received a suspicious outreach from a “malevolent actor” who attempted to deceive him by masquerading as a well-known individual.
The United States Senate has issued a warning to its various workplaces regarding a sophisticated social engineering campaign targeting senators and employees, which appears designed to discredit victims or obtain sensitive information.
Deepfakes of prominent Ukrainian figures have been misused previously to deceive Western politicians, marking a disconcerting trend.
In June 2022, a surprising revelation emerged: the mayors of Madrid, Vienna, and Berlin had unknowingly engaged in video calls with a deepfake avatar mimicking Vitali Klitschko, their Kyiv counterpart.
A cybercriminal succeeded in deceiving an employee of a Hong Kong branch of a multinational corporation during a video conference, using deepfake technology to impersonate the company’s Chief Financial Officer and other colleagues, ultimately convincing the victim to transfer $25 million USD.