How ‘Yahoo Boys’ use real-time face-swapping to carry out elaborate romance scams
Fox News
Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson reveals how the "Yahoo Boys" scam utilizes deepfake and face-swapping technology to trick people who believe they are in a romantic relationship.
Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson is an award-winning tech journalist who has a deep love of technology, gear and gadgets that make life better with his contributions for Fox News & FOX Business beginning mornings on "FOX & Friends." Got a tech question? Get Kurt’s free CyberGuy Newsletter, share your voice, a story idea or comment at CyberGuy.com.
Deepfake technology uses AI to allow people to impersonate others over audio or video. The technology is essentially able to replicate someone's face, facial expressions, gestures, voice, etc., so that the scammer can pretend to be someone they aren't with almost perfect accuracy. Although deepfake technology has some intentions for good – like in the film industry or advertising (though there are some debates regarding the ethics of this) – it's generally used for more malicious purposes than anything else.
Because it's very difficult to tell whether or not a deepfake is the real person or a deepfake (and also because deepfakes are relatively new), deepfakes can have the potential to do a lot of damage. From the larger implications of it being used to spread inaccurate news stories that can sway public opinion and political processes to it being used to inflict damage on individuals with scams, it's important to know what to watch out for.