Here’s how to quickly spot a deepfake crypto scam — cybersecurity execs

Crypto investors have been urged to keep their eyes peeled for “deepfake” crypto scams to come, with the digital-doppelganger technology continuing to advance, making it harder for viewers to separate fact from fiction.

David Schwed, the chief operating officer of blockchain security firm Halborn, told Cointelegraph that the crypto industry is more “susceptible” to deepfakes than ever because “time is of the essence in making decisions,” which results in less time to verify the veracity of a video.

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Deepfakes use deep learning artificial intelligence (AI) to create highly realistic digital content by manipulating and altering original media, such as swapping faces in videos, photos, and audio, according to OpenZeppelin technical writer Vlad Estoup.

Estoup noted that crypto scammers often use deepfake technology to creat fake videos of well-known personalities to execute scams.

An example of such a scam was a deepfake video of FTX’s former CEO in November, where scammers used old interview footage of Sam Bankman-Fried and a voice emulator to direct users to a malicious website promising to “double your cryptocurrency.”

Over the weekend, a verified account posing as FTX founder SBF posted dozens of copies of this deepfake video offering FTX users “compensation for the loss” in a phishing scam designed to drain their crypto wallets pic.twitter.com/3KoAPRJsya

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Schwed said that the volatile nature of crypto causes people to panic and take a “better safe than sorry” approach, which can lead to them getting suckered into deepfake scams. He noted:

“If a video of CZ is released claiming withdrawals will be halted within the hour, are you going to immediately withdraw your funds, or spend hours trying to figure out if the message is real?”

However, Estoup believes that while deepfake technology is advancing at a rapid rate, it’s not yet “indistinguishable from reality.”