It has been revealed that total damages from fraud utilizing AI-driven voice imitation have reached 4.5 billion yen through 2026. A former official from the Metropolitan Police Department stated that methods have been confirmed in which AI mimics a CEO's voice to instruct employees to make wire transfers.
Fraudulent Schemes Mimicking CEOs' Voices via AI Result in 4.5 Billion Yen in Damages
This article is a translation. Read the Japanese original
Criminal groups collect audio of the target individual and use it to train AI, thereby creating audio that sounds identical to the person's actual voice.
The fraudulent methods are sophisticated. Cases have occurred where perpetrators call employees using voices impersonating a CEO to instruct them to transfer funds. Furthermore, it has been reported that the fraud groups consist of individuals with specialized IT knowledge, as these crimes are carried out by leveraging IT technology.
As a countermeasure, it is required that the facts be verified through a different medium whenever wire transfer instructions are received. Additionally, caution must be exercised regarding the handling of information.
Source: 「社長の声」悪用で被害45億円 元警視庁が明かす「AI詐欺」の手口 (ITmedia AI+, 2026-09-03)