Three Individuals Indicted for $129 Million AI Impersonation Scheme Targeting U.S. and International Companies
Three individuals, Jacob Soall, 41, Sharon Hazan, 54, and Guy Sheetrit, 42, have been indicted on charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft for allegedly using artificial intelligence to impersonate corporate executives and attorneys to steal approximately $129 million. The indictment, filed in a U.S. District Court in New York, details a scheme that spanned over a year and a half, targeting thousands of companies globally. Victims included hospital systems in Missouri and California, a Rhode Island bank, a financial technology company in the United Kingdom, a mutual fund company in Massachusetts, and a pet food company in Florida. The defendants, from Spain, the UK, Israel, and the United Arab Emirates, also face charges of money laundering. The trio would typically email a company's accounting department, posing as the CEO, requesting assistance with a confidential financial transaction. They would then coordinate phone or video calls, using AI to mimic the CEO's voice and sometimes image, befo...
