In a moment when a voice can now be borrowed as easily as a letterhead, prosecutors in New York have accused three men and women of using artificial intelligence to wear the faces and voices of corporate chiefs and lawyers, drawing about $129 million from businesses scattered across the world. The alleged scheme, which spanned more than a year and a half and reached thousands of companies, reveals how an old human vulnerability, the instinct to obey a trusted authority, can be exploited by new tools. The charges are accusations only, yet they mark a turning point in which trust in what we see
Three Charged in Alleged AI Impersonation Scheme That Prosecutors Say Stole $129 Million
Victims, including hospital systems, a bank, and businesses across several countries, lost about $129 million in the alleged scheme.
A second impersonator, the lawyer, made the fake CEO's request seem verified.
Mark
Start with the basic shape. What exactly are they accused of doing?
Mimi
Posing as CEOs by email, then on calls using AI to copy the executive's voice and sometimes image. Accounting staff were then sent to a fake lawyer who told them to wire money.
Mark
So two layers of impersonation.
Mimi
Yes. The second layer is what makes it work. The employee thinks they've verified the request by speaking to a professional, but that person is also part of the scheme.
Luke
Worth being clear that this is an indictment. Everything described is what prosecutors allege, drawn from court documents. None of it has been proven.
Mark
And the $129 million figure?
Luke
The source says "about" $129 million and attributes it to the prosecution. It doesn't break down how much came from which victim, so I wouldn't read it as audited.
Mimi
The victims named are a mix: hospital systems in Missouri and California, a Rhode Island bank, a UK fintech, a Massachusetts mutual fund company, a Florida pet food company.
Mark
Do we know whether those named victims actually lost money?
Luke
The reporting says they were victims according to court documents, but it doesn't say how much each lost or whether any funds were recovered. Those are open questions.
Mimi
One concrete detail is Soall's handwritten script titled "Lawyer Call." The technology was advanced, but the approach also leaned on a plain, rehearsed script.
Mark
What's the legal exposure?
Luke
Twenty years maximum on each charge, two for aggravated identity theft. Those are ceilings, not predictions, and we haven't heard from defense lawyers yet.
O Pulso
- A forged email from a trusted CEO lands in an accounting inbox, and a call follows in which a cloned voice urges urgent secrecy.
- Employees, pressed by a fake lawyer's authority, are steered into wiring large sums to accounts across the globe.
- Money vanishes into cryptocurrency within hours, leaving hospitals, a bank, and a mutual fund company to absorb losses of about $129 million.
- Arrests in Spain, the UK, Israel and the UAE have brought three defendants to face indictment, while investigators work to uncover others allegedly involved.
- Whether the defendants plead guilty or go to trial, the case is pushing companies toward stronger voice and identity checks before any payment moves.
In a moment when a voice can now be borrowed as easily as a letterhead, prosecutors in New York have accused three men and women of using artificial intelligence to wear the faces and voices of corporate chiefs and lawyers, drawing about $129 million from businesses scattered across the world. The alleged scheme, which spanned more than a year and a half and reached thousands of companies, reveals how an old human vulnerability, the instinct to obey a trusted authority, can be exploited by new tools. The charges are accusations only, yet they mark a turning point in which trust in what we see and hear must now be earned again through verification.
Prosecutors in New York announced that three people have been indicted for allegedly using artificial intelligence to pose as corporate executives and lawyers, a scheme they say drew roughly $129 million from companies around the world. The defendants face wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering charges. They are Jacob Soall, 41, Sharon Hazan, 54, and Guy Sheetrit, 42, from Spain, the United Kingdom, Israel and the United Arab Emirates, arrested between June and September.
According to the indictment, the scheme began in accounting departments. An employee would receive an email seemingly from the company's CEO requesting help with a confidential transaction, followed by a call or video in which AI allegedly mimicked the executive's voice and sometimes his face. The pressure then shifted to a supposed attorney at a major law firm, whom Soall allegedly played, working from a handwritten script titled "Lawyer Call." That attorney directed large wire transfers to accounts worldwide, and the funds were converted to cryptocurrency to hide their origin.
The named victims include hospital systems in Missouri and California, a bank in Rhode Island, a UK fintech firm, a Massachusetts mutual fund company and a Florida pet food company. The FBI said criminals are increasingly weaponizing emerging technology and pledged to keep pace. The defendants face up to 20 years on most charges. Lawyers for some defendants had not yet commented, and the allegations remain unproven as the case heads toward pleas or trial.
Prosecutors in New York announced Thursday that three people have been indicted for allegedly using artificial intelligence to pose as corporate executives and lawyers, a scheme they say pulled in about $129 million from companies around the world. The charges are wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, and the defendants also face money laundering counts.
The accused are Jacob Soall, 41, Sharon Hazan, 54, and Guy Sheetrit, 42. According to the indictment, filed in U.S. District Court in New York, they spent more than a year and a half targeting thousands of companies worldwide. The defendants are from Spain, the United Kingdom, Israel and the United Arab Emirates. They were arrested between June and September. The U.S. Attorney's Office noted that Hazan was convicted in a New York court in 2008 of conspiracy to commit bank fraud.
Court documents describe a method that began in the accounting department. Employees there would receive an email that appeared to come from their company's CEO, asking for help with a confidential financial transaction. A phone or video call would then be arranged, during which the defendants allegedly used AI to imitate the CEO's voice and, at times, the executive's image.
The pitch did not end with the fake CEO. Employees were directed to contact an attorney at a major law firm, and the group was prepared to impersonate that person too. Prosecutors say Soall mainly played UK-based attorneys, and that he kept a handwritten script titled "Lawyer Call" to help him sound like a real lawyer while defrauding victims.
The impersonated attorney would then instruct the employee to wire large payments to bank accounts around the world. According to court documents, the money was converted into cryptocurrency to disguise its origin, then distributed to the three defendants and others involved. The trio, who go by nicknames including "Rocky Balboa," "Superman Cash" and "Fat Boy," are not alleged to have worked alone.
The victims named in the court filings are varied: hospital systems in Missouri and California, a bank in Rhode Island, a financial technology company in the United Kingdom, a mutual fund company in Massachusetts and a pet food company in Florida.
FBI Assistant Director in Charge James C. Barnacle, Jr. said in a statement that the case shows how advanced technology can be turned to fraud on a large scale. "As criminals continue to weaponize emerging technologies," he said, the FBI is committed to adapting quickly to identify, investigate and disrupt those who harm New Yorkers and businesses in their communities.
If convicted, each charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years, except aggravated identity theft, which carries a maximum of two years. Lawyers for Soall and Sheetrit did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and it was unclear whether Hazan has an attorney. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York also did not immediately respond to a message from The Associated Press. The allegations remain unproven; what to watch next is how the defendants plead and whether the case moves toward trial.
Citações Notáveis
As criminals continue to weaponize emerging technologies, the FBI remains committed to rapidly adapting our capabilities to identify, investigate, and disrupt those who seek to harm New Yorkers and businesses operating in our communities.— James C. Barnacle, Jr., FBI Assistant Director in Charge
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Crime & Justice