Fraudsters tricked Arup into paying over 25.6 million USD through a fake video meeting
In 2024, an employee at the Hong Kong branch of Arup transferred over 25.6 million USD after a video meeting featuring impersonations of the chief financial officer and other colleagues. According to the article, the fake likenesses and voices were most likely created using AI.
In 2024, fraudsters persuaded an employee at the Hong Kong branch of Arup to transfer over 25.6 million USD to several accounts—just under 540 million Kč, according to the article. He first received an email containing a purported instruction from the chief financial officer in London to pay out the money quickly and in secret. The employee suspected phishing and did not make the payments. However, a subsequent video meeting featuring convincing likenesses and voices of the chief financial officer and other colleagues dispelled his doubts. The participants responded to questions and confirmed the request.
The fraud came to light when the employee later checked whether the transfers had gone through correctly: no one at the company knew about either the instruction or the meeting. The article on Lupa.cz describes the use of AI to create the fake likenesses and voices as likely, but unconfirmed. According to the article, the police have not yet identified the perpetrators.
Why it matters
The fake video meeting made the suspicious payment instruction appear to have been confirmed by several familiar colleagues. The case shows that initially recognising a suspicious email may not, on its own, prevent financial fraud if subsequent communication restores the employee's trust.
Two audiences, two different impacts
What this means
For individuals
For employees handling payments, a familiar face and voice in a video meeting are an uncertain basis for verifying the identity of the person requesting a payment.
More practical updates →For a business
The process affected is the approval and execution of corporate payments. In this case, impersonating management and colleagues led to more than 25.6 million USD being sent to accounts designated by the fraudsters.
Risks and compliance More business impacts →Check the original
Event sources
only one source so far · 1 publisher, 1 independent. We count feeds from the same owner only once.