AI-driven fraud campaign impersonates Portuguese police
Foreign criminal networks used AI-powered voice synthesis and identity spoofing to conduct a mass fraud campaign impersonating the Portuguese Polícia Judiciária, convincing victims to transfer funds. The Polícia Judiciária's cybercrime unit reported receiving over 100 complaints in a single weekend and noted the campaign's use of individualized AI-based attack patterns.
What happened
Foreign criminal networks deployed AI-powered techniques to conduct a mass fraud campaign impersonating the Polícia Judiciária through fraudulent phone calls. The scammers claimed victims' bank accounts were at risk or had been accessed without authorization, then offered options including speaking with a supposed PJ inspector who would instruct them to transfer funds to supposedly safe accounts.
The campaign used Portuguese phone numbers and identity spoofing techniques to lend credibility to the calls. According to the PJ's National Unit Against Cybercrime and Technological Crime (UNC3T), the criminals developed individualized attack patterns using AI-based profile analysis and targeted techniques.
Reported impact
The campaign resulted in an unusual number of complaints to the PJ, with over 100 complaints received in one weekend alone. The PJ had opened approximately 2,000 inquiries since the beginning of the year related to various types of computer fraud, including this campaign.
Index analysis
The campaign demonstrated the mass scale and direct victim contact achieved through AI-powered techniques, with scammers developing individualized approaches to fraud. The UNC3T coordinator noted the concerning evolution of criminal schemes, stating that the targeted and personalized nature of the attacks would create additional difficulties for law enforcement.
Governance controls
The PJ was working with telecommunications operators to identify the spoofing techniques used. The PJ had developed some techniques to identify threats but acknowledged the difficulty in anticipating behaviors in this area.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.