Authored by Lakshya Mathur and Abhishek Karnik
Because the world gears up for the 2024 Paris Olympics, pleasure is constructing, and so is the potential for scams. From pretend ticket gross sales to counterfeit merchandise, scammers are on the prowl, leveraging huge occasions to trick unsuspecting followers. Just lately, McAfee researchers uncovered a very malicious rip-off that not solely goals to deceive but in addition to painting the Worldwide Olympics Committee (IOC) as corrupt.
This rip-off entails subtle social engineering strategies, the place the scammers purpose to deceive. They’ve develop into extra accessible than ever due to developments in Synthetic Intelligence (AI). Instruments like audio cloning allow scammers to create convincing pretend audio messages at a low price. These applied sciences have been highlighted in McAfee’s AI Impersonator report final 12 months, showcasing the rising menace of such tech within the fingers of fraudsters.
The most recent scheme entails a fictitious Amazon Prime sequence titled “Olympics has Fallen II: The Finish of Thomas Bach,” narrated by a deepfake model of Elon Musk’s voice. This pretend sequence was reported to have been launched on a Telegram channel on June twenty fourth, 2024. It’s a stark reminder of the lengths to which scammers will go to unfold misinformation and exploit public figures to create plausible narratives.
Because the Olympic Video games strategy, it’s essential to remain vigilant and query the authenticity of sensational claims, particularly these discovered on much less regulated platforms like Telegram. At all times confirm data via official channels to keep away from falling sufferer to those subtle scams.
As we strategy the Olympic Video games, it’s essential to remain vigilant and query the authenticity of sensational claims, particularly these discovered on much less regulated platforms like Telegram. At all times confirm data via official channels to keep away from falling sufferer to those subtle scams.
Cowl Picture of the sequence
This sequence appears to be the work of the identical creator who, a 12 months in the past, put out an analogous quick sequence titled “Olympics has Fallen,” falsely offered as a Netflix sequence that includes a deepfake voice of Tom Cruise. With the Olympics starting, this new launch appears to be a sequel to final 12 months’s fabrication.
Picture and Description of final 12 months’s launched sequence
These so-called documentaries are at present being distributed through Telegram channels. The first purpose of this sequence is to focus on the Olympics and discredit its management. Inside only a week of its launch, the sequence has already attracted over 150,000 viewers, and the numbers proceed to climb.
Along with claiming to be an Amazon Prime story, the creators of this content material have additionally circulated photographs of what appear to be fabricated endorsements and opinions from respected publishers, enhancing their try at social engineering.
Faux endorsement of well-known publishers
This 3-part sequence consists of episodes using AI voice cloning, picture diffusion and lip-sync to piece collectively a pretend narration. A variety of effort has been expended to make the video appear to be a professionally created sequence. Nonetheless, there are specific hints within the video, such because the picture-in-picture overlay that seems at varied factors of the sequence. By shut commentary, there are specific glitches
Overlay video throughout the sequence with some discrepancies
The unique video seems to be from a Wall Road Journal (WSJ) interview that has then been altered and modified (seen the background). The audio clone is sort of indiscernible by human inspection.
Authentic video snapshot from WSJ Interview
Modified and altered video snapshot from pretend sequence
Episodes thumbnails and their descriptions captured from the telegram channel
Elon Musk’s voice has been a goal for impersonation earlier than. Actually, McAfee’s 2023 Hacker Superstar Sizzling Checklist positioned him at quantity six, highlighting his standing as one of the crucial regularly mimicked public figures in cryptocurrency scams.
Because the prevalence of deepfakes and associated scams continues to develop, together with campaigns of misinformation and disinformation, McAfee has developed deepfake audio detection expertise. Showcased on Intel’s AI PCs at RSA in Might, McAfee’s Deepfake Detector – previously often known as Venture Mockingbird – helps folks discern reality from fiction and defends customers towards cybercriminals using fabricated, AI-generated audio to hold out scams that rob folks of cash and private data, allow cyberbullying, and manipulate the general public picture of outstanding figures.
With the 2024 Olympics on the horizon, McAfee predicts a surge in scams involving AI instruments. Whether or not you’re planning to journey to the summer season Olympics or simply following the joy from residence, it’s essential to stay alert. Be cautious of unsolicited textual content messages providing offers, avoid unfamiliar web sites, and be skeptical of the knowledge shared on varied social platforms. It’s essential to keep up a important eye and use instruments that improve your on-line security.
McAfee is dedicated to empowering customers to make knowledgeable selections by offering instruments that establish AI-generated content material and elevating consciousness about their software the place needed. AI generated content material is turning into more and more plausible these days. Some key suggestions whereas viewing content material on-line
- Be skeptical of content material from untrusted sources – At all times query the motive. On this case, the content material is accessible on Telegram channels and posted to unusual public cloud storage.
- Be vigilant whereas viewing the content material – Most AI fabrications can have some flaws, though it’s turning into more and more harder to identify such discrepancies at look. On this video, we famous some apparent indicators that gave the impression to be cast, nonetheless it’s barely extra sophisticated with the audio.
- Cross-verify data – Any cross-validation of this content material based mostly on the title on well-liked engines like google or by looking out Amazon Prime content material, would in a short time lead customers to appreciate that one thing is amiss.
Notice: McAfee shouldn’t be affiliated with the Olympics and nothing on this article needs to be interpreted as indicating or implying one. The aim of this text is to assist construct consciousness towards misinformation campaigns. “Olympics Has Fallen II” is the title of 1 such marketing campaign found by McAfee.
