Elon Musk deepfake crypto scam highlights risks to Hong Kong as AI-related fraud rises

The Securities and Futures Commission has warned of a fraudulent crypto trading platform called Quantum AI, a long-time scam that uses deepfakes of Elon Musk. Hong Kong has proven particularly susceptible to AI-related scams, with fintech industry fraud growing 3.8% in the first quarter. — SCMP

Last week, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) warned of a scam using deepfakes of Elon Musk touting a cryptocurrency trading platform called “Quantum AI”. The scam is old, but it highlights an alarming rise in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to commit fraud – and Asia has proven particularly susceptible.

In its public warning on May 8, the SFC said that Quantum AI makes claims of being able to earn “too-good-to-be-true” returns and the regulator made a request to the Hong Kong Police Force to block access to related websites and social media pages. The linked domains were inaccessible as of this week, and the Facebook groups appear to have been removed.