TOKYOMay 17 (News On Japan) – The Japanese National Police announced on May 16 that the amount of money lost to imitation investment scams on social media totaled 21.9 billion yen in just three months from January to March from this year.
In April, a 70-year-old woman in Ibaraki Prefecture was scammed out of about 800 million yen, and in early May, a man in his 70s in Hyogo Prefecture was scammed out of 660 million yen, indicating that the amounts involved are increasing. to.
On May 15, the Liberal Democratic Party’s team working on social media impersonation measures discussed Meta, the company that operates Facebook. Former Digital Minister Takuya Hirai commented on Meta’s response to the LDP’s request for improvements: “Honestly, there were a lot of things that made me think, ‘You can do it if you try,’ which made it clear that they weren’t had done to them, and that makes me angry.’
Meta is reportedly willing to comply with the LDP’s request to send a representative to the Diet as a witness, although CEO Mark Zuckerberg declined to attend.
Entrepreneur Yusaku Maezawa has filed a lawsuit against Meta seeking damages.
Maezawa said, “Today I filed a lawsuit against both Meta and Facebook Japan.”
He’s suing for just one yen. Why?
From Maezawa’s official X: “I want to clarify whether their actions are illegal or legal.”
He demands disclosure of Meta’s specific measures against fraudulent advertising and the questioning of responsible parties.
From Maezawa’s official
Close listening reveals ‘inconsistencies’… Akira Ikegami confirms ‘fake voice’
Fake celebrity advertisements are becoming increasingly sophisticated. Akira Ikegami, whose likeness was used without permission, said: “They used bad language… it’s really inappropriate.”
Ikegami is concerned that more people will trust ‘fake ads’ because of voice messages: “If a voice message suddenly comes in, people might think, ‘Oh, it’s from the real person!’ That’s creepy. We need social measures to stop this.’
As imitation techniques become more sophisticated, Ikegami sounds the alarm: ‘I haven’t done this in the first place. If people understand that, they will not be guided by calls for investments and the like.’
AI abuse… Comparing ‘Fake Akira Ikegami’ voices
As fraudulent techniques become more sophisticated, police are wary of the potential for AI to be misused in these crimes.
A specialist familiar with AI was asked to listen to the voice message of the ‘fake Akira Ikegami’.
Yoshikazu Nishimura, head of Orutsu Co., Ltd., said, “If you receive a message thinking it is from Akira Ikegami, and see a photo or video, you may think, ‘This is Akira Ikegami.’
However, the transmitted voice was created using conventional speech synthesis technology.
Nishimura said, “Honestly, it is immediately clear that it is not a human speaking, but a machine.”
Ikegami’s voice was created using AI technology.
AI-generated voice: โPlease don’t be fooled. I never ask for investments.’
Compared to the voice of the ‘fake Akira Ikegami’, the AI-generated voice sounded more natural and refined. It was compared to Ikegami’s factual commentary that aired last month.
Nishimura said, โIt won’t take one or two weeks; technically it can be done in less than ten minutes.โ
Scam ads… Deceptive tactics
The number of cases of deception using not only images and text, but also voice, is increasing. One victim, known as XX, fell prey to a scam advertisement on social media.
XX (in his 60s) said, “I’ve been trading stocks and wanted to make some more profits.”
XX accessed a fake ad on Facebook with the image of a renowned economist. They were invited to a LINE group called a “stock study group.”
Later, XX received individual investment advice through LINE from a woman who claimed to be a mentor. However, she did not recommend stocks, but cryptocurrency.
For about two months, XX exchanged trivial conversations with the mentor every day. XX ultimately trusted the mentor completely.
XX said, โ(Question: How much money did you invest?) 20 million yen. She said, “I’ll take care of it and increase the profits.”
According to the mentor’s instructions, XX invested 20 million yen in cryptocurrency. When XX was told that a profit had been made and tried to withdraw the money, he was asked for an additional withdrawal fee of 5 million yen, which made them realize it was a scam.
Reviewing communications with the scammer revealed some ‘inconsistencies’.
Communication with the mentor ‘Pay with confidence.’
‘Both safety and risks are largely guaranteed!’
“We just have to spend a little time on it.”
‘We have great improvements!’
The mentor used some nonsensical sentences. There were other inconsistencies as well.
Communication with the mentor ‘Can you only prepare 10 million yen? Can’t you prepare more?’
XX said, “It may take some time.”
The mentor replied, “Don’t worry, be patient.”
The messages, which had been in formal language, suddenly changed to a friendly tone. In addition, broken Japanese voice messages were also sent.
Voice message from the mentor ‘Also today, well done. Rest well. I’m going to sleep now too. Good night.’
XX said, โLooking back now, does it seem suspicious to others?โ
The variety of tactics used in social media investment scams continues to increase. Meta, which continues to run fake ads, said: “We have devoted significant resources to combating scam ads and will continue to make significant investments in expanding detection technology.”
Source: ANN
