Israeli investors fell victim to an AI-powered stock market scam using deepfake videos of prominent figures and sophisticated social media advertising to promote fraudulent investments, resulting in hundreds of thousands in losses when the promoted stock eventually crashed.
In April 2024, fraudsters launched an elaborate stock market scam targeting Israeli investors using artificial intelligence and deepfake technology. The scheme involved creating dozens of deepfake videos impersonating prominent figures including Bank of Israel Governor Amir Yaron, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, celebrities like Gal Gadot, and tech leaders like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, all appearing to endorse fake investment opportunities. The scammers also impersonated trusted financial institutions such as the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, Israel Securities Authority, and major banks. Using Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp's paid promotion tools, they spread recommendations to invest in Ostin Technology Group Co. Ltd. (OST), a real NASDAQ-traded stock. The fraudsters customized deepfake content for different Israeli demographics, adding Russian subtitles and timing releases with current events. They created fake WhatsApp groups mimicking successful investor communities and polished external websites with simulated market data. The stock initially rose as planned, lending credibility to the scam, but eventually crashed to $0.17, down nearly 93%. Dozens of victims reported massive losses, with two severe cases losing 250,000 and 150,000 shekels respectively. The Israeli Internet Association reported a sharp increase in such AI-driven scams throughout the year.
Domain classification, causal taxonomy, severity scores, and national security assessments were LLM-classified and may contain errors.
Using AI systems to gain a personal advantage over others such as through cheating, fraud, scams, blackmail or targeted manipulation of beliefs or behavior. Examples include AI-facilitated plagiarism for research or education, impersonating a trusted or fake individual for illegitimate financial benefit, or creating humiliating or sexual imagery.
AI system
Due to a decision or action made by an AI system
Intentional
Due to an expected outcome from pursuing a goal
Post-deployment
Occurring after the AI model has been trained and deployed