Security experts are sounding the alarm about the potential implications of artificial intelligence (AI)-generated deepfakes, which are artificial audio or video files that have been manipulated to portray someone’s likeness, in real estate fraud.
Earlier this year, authorities in Hong Kong reported that a group of scammers used deepfake technology to steal more than $25 million from a multinational company by impersonating the company’s chief financial officer on a video call with an employee, who they tricked into transferring the funds.
As deepfakes become more realistic and convincing, experts are worried fraudsters will use the technology to impersonate professionals in a real estate transaction, with the aim of intercepting a payment or collecting sensitive information. Even savvy real estate investors could experience financial losses or identity theft if they became the target of such a scheme.
The Elusive Red Flags
Any financial transaction carries the risk of fraud, but in the past, it was easier for investors to protect themselves with proper education. For example, buyers could look out for misspellings in an email address or other signs of wire fraud and verify the transaction with the real estate agent over the phone. But now, those red flags are tougher to spot—a fraudster could spoof a real estate agent’s phone number and use deepfake audio to impersonate their voice.
Actor and filmmaker Jordan Peele warned us about the dangers of generative AI in 2018 when he created a deepfake video of Barack Obama warning Americans about misinformation online. “This is a dangerous time. Moving forward, we need to be more vigilant with what we trust from the internet,” Obama appeared to say in the video, though viewers were actually witnessing a performance by Jordan Peele after careful editing and 56 hours of processing.
There was something off about the video beyond the humorous script—it contained