Three scammers in China's Hubei province used AI-generated GIFs created from social media photos to bypass facial recognition security on WeChat Pay, stealing money from victims' accounts including 20,000 yuan from one woman.
In July 2023, police in China's Hubei province investigated a fraud case where three suspects used AI-generated chat stickers to bypass facial recognition security on WeChat Pay. The scammers targeted children playing online games on their parents' phones, promising discounted in-game rewards in exchange for their parents' WeChat passwords. One suspect, surnamed Lin, explained they would find selfies of victims in their WeChat Moments social media feed and convert them into GIFs showing identity-verifying actions like blinking or head turning. These AI-generated animations could then fool the facial recognition system and authorize money transfers. The investigation began after a woman surnamed Kang from Badong County reported that 20,000 yuan ($3,000) had disappeared from her WeChat Pay account. Police found that a stranger had contacted her 8-year-old son while he was gaming on her phone, offering coveted game rewards at discounted prices in exchange for the password. The three suspects were arrested in different locations in September and October 2023, and the case remained under investigation. The incident highlighted vulnerabilities in facial recognition systems, echoing a 2018 discovery by primary school students in Zhejiang province who had successfully opened express delivery lockers using printed photos.
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.
Human
Due to a decision or action made by humans
Intentional
Due to an expected outcome from pursuing a goal
Post-deployment
Occurring after the AI model has been trained and deployed