Investigators of the National Police of Ukraine have uncovered a large-scale fraudulent scheme in which artificial intelligence became the main tool for stealing personal data and obtaining loans for unsuspecting citizens. This was reported by the National Police, writes UNN.
Details
According to the investigation, the organizer of the scheme was a 33-year-old Ukrainian woman who moved to Poland during the full-scale invasion. There, she coordinated the criminal activity, involving her ex-husband and an acquaintance from Mykolaiv in the scheme.
How the perpetrators acted
Obtaining personal data of online banking users - financial numbers, passwords, and authorization codes - from unidentified sources, the woman transferred them to her accomplices in Ukraine.
They, using the obtained information, unauthorizedly entered the mobile applications of Ukrainian banks and, through the BankID system, gained access to citizens' profiles in the "Diia" application.
Having gained access to citizens' electronic accounts, the perpetrators downloaded users' digital documents, after which the organizer created short fake videos using DeepFake technology - superimposing the victims' faces on her own
Such videos were used for automatic photo verification in online banking systems, which allowed financial services to be issued on behalf of real people.
Over 280 victims and millions in loans
According to preliminary data, the fraudsters opened accounts and concluded agreements on behalf of at least 286 citizens, and for some of them, they issued loans totaling over 4 million hryvnias. The stolen funds were transferred by the perpetrators to controlled accounts, then converted into cryptocurrency and cashed out.
Currently, three members of the group have been notified of suspicion of fraud and unauthorized interference with information systems. According to the sanctions of the articles, the defendants face up to 15 years in prison with confiscation of property.