Vietnam police warn of AI deepfake extortion scam
Vietnamese police warned of an extortion scam in which criminals used face-swapping technology to insert victims' faces into explicit images and videos, then demanded cryptocurrency payments under threat of sharing the deepfakes on social media and with victims' employers. The scheme targeted business owners, government officials, and members of the general public.
What happened
Criminals in Vietnam collected personal information including photos and phone numbers of victims from social media and other sources, then used face-swapping technology to insert victims' faces into explicit images and videos.
Perpetrators impersonated private investigators and contacted victims via phone, text, email, and messaging apps to demand money transfers, threatening to post the fabricated images on social media, send them to victims' workplaces, and harm their reputations if they did not comply.
Victims were instructed to purchase cryptocurrency (USDT) and transfer funds to designated cryptocurrency wallet accounts. The scam affected state officials, government employees, and business leaders in An Giang province.
Reported impact
Victims experienced extortion and financial losses through cryptocurrency transfers after being threatened with public distribution of deepfake images.
Index analysis
The scheme exploited publicly available information from social media to create convincing deepfake images designed to manipulate victims into paying ransom demands.
Governance controls
Vietnam Police and the Ministry of Public Security issued public warnings advising citizens not to access suspicious links, enable two-factor authentication on social media accounts, and report suspected fraud to authorities immediately.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.