The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has issued a warning regarding a scam involving deepfakes of Elon Musk used to promote a fraudulent cryptocurrency trading platform known as “Quantum AI.”
This scam, which is part of a broader trend of increasing AI-driven fraud in Asia, falsely advertises extraordinary returns on investments. The SFC has responded by collaborating with the Hong Kong Police Force to shut down related websites and social media accounts promoting Quantum AI.
The SFC issued its public warning on May 8. The scam itself has been recurring over the past year, with various adaptations surfacing over time to target different demographics.
The scam has been particularly active in Hong Kong, a major hub for digital financial transactions in Asia. However, the broader issue of deepfake-driven fraud is a significant problem across the Asia-Pacific region.
Fraudsters use advanced AI technologies to create deepfake videos of high-profile individuals like Elon Musk to lend credibility to their scams. One prominent video manipulated footage from a 2019 event to show Musk and Jack Ma endorsing the platform. The fraudulent activities are facilitated by the high volume of cross-border financial transactions in places like Hong Kong, making the region a hotbed for such scams.
According to Sumsub, a platform specializing in identity verification, there was a 1,530 percent increase in deepfake incidents in Asia last year, with the highest occurrences in Vietnam and Japan. These scams often involve complex setups using cheap web hosting and common CMS technologies, making them difficult to trace and shut down.
The SFC has ramped up its efforts to combat these scams, particularly after the JPEX scandal last September, which resulted in significant financial losses. The SFC’s recent activities also include warnings about other risky crypto-related products, emphasizing the need for vigilance in digital asset transactions. Deepfake scams have caused substantial financial damage in Asia, highlighting an urgent need for advanced regulatory measures and public awareness to combat these sophisticated fraud techniques.
