US prosecutors have charged Jacob Soall, Sharon Hazan and Guy Sheetrit with running a $129m fraud that used AI to mimic CEOs’ voices and images. The men allegedly called employees, posed as company chiefs, and directed them to transfer large sums for supposed secret deals. Victims included a Missouri hospital system, which lost $4.8m, and a UK fintech, which lost $11.6m. Funds were sent to accounts in several countries and converted to cryptocurrency, according to the indictment.
The group used AI voice cloning to make the impersonations convincing and involved a fake lawyer to provide bank details. Soall mainly posed as UK lawyers and kept a script for the calls, while Hazan and Sheetrit are accused of laundering the proceeds. Hazan has a prior conviction for bank fraud conspiracy. The men face charges including wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, with maximum sentences of up to 20 years. The charges are allegations and the men are presumed innocent.
The case follows a 2019 incident where criminals used voice cloning to steal $243,000. Since then, AI-enabled impersonation scams have increased. The incident raises new concerns for regulated firms about the adequacy of controls and staff training against AI-driven fraud.
