Final yr, AI-powered digital identification verification and fraud prevention supplier Socure warned of a singular new type of identification theft. With the assistance of extra superior generative synthetic intelligence, fraudsters can now use an individual’s selfie to trick identification verification strategies. A thief can both get hold of your picture straight, snap an image of it on a doc or from one other display, and even seize your headshot on-line from social media to provide a persuasive pretend ID.
These “deepfakes” can be utilized for a number of nefarious functions, like opening an account in your identify and even hacking a tool. With a doctored picture, the hacker now has visible verification along with different types of documentation, like your tackle and social safety quantity, typically exchanged on the darkish internet.
DJ Carey, a 54-year-old Irish hurling legend, not too long ago pleaded responsible in Dublin’s prison court docket to a comedic twist on the “selfie rip-off.” It appears he was forward of his time. Carey admitted to 10 counts of deception between 2014 and 2022 for duping a number of folks into giving him cash to help his most cancers remedy over the eight-year span.
The catch? He didn’t have most cancers. As a substitute, he used a selfie with what seems to be a medical tube up his nostril. It wasn’t a medical tube, however an iPhone charging cable.
One of many folks he fooled is billionaire Denis O’Brien, who made his fortune because the founding father of Digicel, a Caribbean-based cell phone community. It’s a surprise not one of the victims smelled one thing fishy. Even at first look, that “tube” positive appears to be like like an iPhone cable. Regardless of having legit well being points referring to his coronary heart, it seems Carey’s fame garnered him sufficient sympathy to get away with it, at the very least for some time.
Carey was typically referred to as the “Maradona of hurling” for his distinctive expertise, a reference to former Argentine soccer star Diego Maradona. This superstar’s gorgeous fall from grace is definitely embarrassing. Whereas the {photograph} might offer you a number of chuckles, it ought to function a reminder to watch out for this comparatively new and well-liked rip-off. Within the age of generative AI, don’t imagine all the things you see at first look.