The US Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has issued an alert to assist banks in identifying GenAI-generated deepfake scams.
FinCEN reports an increase in suspicious activity reports from financial institutions regarding the suspected use of deepfake media, particularly fraudulent identity documents aimed at bypassing ID verification and authentication processes.
The alert outlines the tactics associated with these schemes, provides red flag indicators to aid in recognizing and reporting suspicious activity, and reminds financial institutions of their reporting obligations under the Bank Secrecy Act.
FinCEN director Andrea Gacki emphasized the importance of vigilance, stating, “Monitoring the use of deepfakes and reporting related suspicious activity will help protect the U.S. financial system and safeguard innocent Americans from these deceptive tools.”
Criminals are not only exploiting deepfakes to evade ID authentication. Earlier this year, researchers at Fenimore Harper alerted that numerous AI-generated deepfake videos of public figures like Prince William and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer were making rounds on Facebook and Instagram, luring viewers into scam cryptocurrency investments.