Arup warns others after losing £20mn in deepfake video scam

The Fitzrovia-based engineering group Arup has said its experience of being swindled out of £20mn after one of its financial officers fell for a deepfake video conference scam should come as a warning to others of the increasingly sophisticated techniques of fraudsters.

The fraud happened in Hong Kong and the police there originally made the announcement in February but did not reveal the identity of the firm involved.

Last week it was revealed that a member of staff at Arup in Hong Kong had received a message in January from someone pretending to be a senior financial officer of the firm in London asking the staff member to take part in a video conference and to be ready to make financial transactions.

The online conference used artificial intelligence (AI) to create a digital clone of the company’s chief financial officer and other senior officers who instructed the staff member to make 15 payments totalling around £20mn to five Hong Kong bank accounts, reported the Financial Times.

The Hong Kong worker originally suspected it was a fraud but was apparently reassured by the realism of the video conference.

Later the staff member realised it was a fraud, and Arup contacted the Hong Kong police to report the incident.

Last week the firm, which has its headquarters in Fitzroy Street, gave brief details of what had happened and said it was a lesson for others to learn from.

Rob Greig, Arup’s global chief information officer, told the FT: “I hope our experience can help raise awareness of the increasing sophistication and evolving techniques of bad actors.”.