ProKYC Tool Sells Deepfake Software for Cryptocurrency Exchange Account Fraud
Security researchers discovered that a threat actor group called ProKYC is selling a deepfake tool on the dark web designed to bypass facial recognition and two-factor authentication on cryptocurrency exchanges. The tool creates fake government documents and deepfake videos to enable creation of fraudulent accounts that could be used for money laundering and other financial crimes.
What happened
Cato Networks researchers discovered that a threat actor named ProKYC is selling a deepfake tool in the cybercriminal underground designed to help threat actors beat two-factor authentication on cryptocurrency exchanges.
The tool creates fake government-issued documents and deepfake videos to pass facial recognition tests, enabling the creation of verified but synthetic accounts on cryptocurrency exchanges for new account fraud.
Reported impact
The tool enables new account fraud, which can be used for money laundering operations, mule accounts, and other forms of fraud on cryptocurrency exchanges.
Index analysis
Cybercriminals have historically used forged documents to beat authentication, but AI-powered deepfake tools like ProKYC's represent a new level of sophistication, as they can generate videos of fake personas that pass facial recognition tests in addition to creating fake documents.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.