The Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data (PCPD) announced on Thursday that for the first half of 2024, they have recorded a near 90 percent increase in fraudulent activity targeting the personal data of the inquirers. During the first half of 2024, the PCPD received nearly 600 inquiries relating to fraudulent activities targeting the personal data of the inquirers, which represented an increase of almost 90 percent compared to 312 cases year-on-year. The PCPD also noted a surge in various types of scams, all of which aimed at swindling money along with personal data out of citizens. Fraudsters also obtain victims’ biometric data, such as their facial images and voice, through social media, video calls, or online public footage to create videos using deepfake technology and impersonate victims’ friends, relatives, or colleagues to swindle money along with personal data. To illustrate that it is easy to produce fake videos in the AI era, the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data, Ada Chung Lai-ling, also recorded a video demonstrating instant face swapping through AI deepfake technology.

Source: The Standard August 01, 2024 14:15 UTC