WPP CEO Mark Read targeted in deepfake scam
Scammers as part of the elaborate ploy, created a WhatsApp account with an image of Read. The account was used to create a Microsoft Teams meeting involving what appeared to be Read and another senior WPP executive.
Mark Read, CEO of advertising group WPP was recently the target of a deepfake scam, involving an AI-generated voice clone, as per reports.
Scammers as part of the elaborate ploy, created a WhatsApp account with an image of Read. The account was used to create a Microsoft Teams meeting involving what appeared to be Read and another senior WPP executive, reported the Guardian.
During the meeting, the importers used an AI-generated voice clone of the executive along with YouTube footage of the two. Read was impersonated off-camera using the chat window available on Teams.
The whole ploy, which turned out to be unsuccessful, targeted an ‘agency leader’ asking them to set up a new business, so that the scammers could funnel money and extract personal details.
In an email sent by Read internally, he said the scam was unsuccessful and that everyone needs to be more vigilant to the techniques that go beyond emails to take advantage of virtual meetings, AI and deepfakes.
