FBI Charges Three With Using AI Voices to Steal $129 Million

Three men have been indicted in federal court in New York for using artificial intelligence to impersonate corporate leaders and lawyers, a scheme that prosecutors say resulted in the theft of approximately $129 million. The charges were filed on Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Jacob Soall, 41, Sharon Hazan, 54, and Guy Sheetrit, 42, are accused of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. The indictment states that the trio targeted thousands of companies globally over a period of more than eighteen months. Victims listed in court documents include hospital systems in Missouri and California, a bank in Rhode Island, a financial technology firm in the United Kingdom, a mutual fund company in Massachusetts, and a pet food company in Florida.

The defendants, who are from Spain, the UK, Israel, and the United Arab Emirates, also face money laundering charges. The group often targeted accounting departments by sending emails that appeared to come from a company’s chief executive officer. These messages requested assistance with a confidential financial transaction.

According to the indictment, the defendants coordinated phone or video calls where they used AI to mimic the voice and sometimes the visual image of the impersonated CEO. The fake executives then instructed employees to contact an attorney at a major law firm, a role the group was prepared to play as well. Soall, who primarily impersonated British attorneys, reportedly used a handwritten script titled “Lawyer Call” to maintain the deception during conversations with victims.

The impersonated attorneys instructed employees to wire large sums of money to bank accounts around the world. The funds were converted into cryptocurrency to obscure their origin before being distributed to the defendants and other associates. The three men were arrested between June and September of this year.

Hazan has a prior conviction for conspiracy to commit bank fraud in New York from 2008. FBI Assistant Director in Charge James C. Barnacle, Jr., stated that the case demonstrates how advanced technology can be leveraged for large-scale fraud. He noted that the FBI is adapting its capabilities to investigate those who use emerging technologies to harm businesses.

If convicted, each charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years, with the exception of 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 not immediately clear whether Hazan had retained counsel.