FBI: Bad Actors Weaponizing Deepfakes for Remote Job Hires

[Raevenlord]

The FBI has recently issued a Public Service Announcement (PSA) from the agency's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), the division responsible for receiving, collating and categorizing digital threats. According to the PSA, the bureau has seen a relevant increase in the number of complaints surrounding the usage of deepfake technology: actors are now combining deepfake videos with stolen citizen credentials in order to apply to remote jobs.

Deepfakes (AI-generated or AI-assisted videos falsifying human beings) are a relatively known quantity even in mainstream media - particularly due to screenwriter and director Jordan Peele's 2018 showcase of how believable the technology was in animating an otherwise digital ex-president, Barack Obama. While the tech first made forays in the Internet's underground, the increasing ease with which bad actors can weaponize the technology is raising alarms throughout most sectors - or at the very least, they should be.

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The FBI said bad actors have been prioritizing positions related to IT, programming, database maintenance, and other software-related functions. The idea, it seems, would be to facilitate access to customer information, corporate financial data, and proprietary information. Of course, one also has to consider the "old" technique of straight-up infecting a company's infrastructure with a virus (more likely a ransomware, according to the latest trends) that could throw havoc in a company's prospects.

Deepfake technology still isn't at the level required to fool everyone - especially the most attentive ones, who look for de-synced actions between the "animation" and its audio or odd disconnects between skin coloration - but the technology is sure to only improve. Already companies are developing AI-chasing AIs that can detect the usage of deepfakes. It's a case of a dog chasing its own tail: and who knows who'll win in the end.

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[Vayra86]

Humans are weird, honestly.

'But we do it because we can!'

 

[windwhirl]

I have a solution: no remote work without in person interview.

There, wasn't so hard.

 

[R-T-B]

I have a solution: no remote work without in person interview.

There, wasn't so hard.

Autistic people hate in-person interviews. As one myself, I do my absolute worst under such circumstances.

The pandemic was a godsend for my career.

 

[bug]

Autistic people hate in-person interviews. As one myself, I do my absolute worst under such circumstances.

The pandemic was a godsend for my career.

You could still be in a room by yourself and interview over Skype or Zoom, I guess. But with you on premises, at least the employer knows who they talk to.

 

[hsew]

I have a solution: no remote work without in person interview.

There, wasn't so hard.

I can see the listing now…

“Fully Remote Opportunity for local applicants only! Or anyone desperate enough to take days off, pay for a plane ticket, car rental, and hotel room for the privilege of sitting in a conference room for 30-90 minutes to talk to people who they’ll likely never see again in-person even if they do get the job! And don’t even think about bullshitting us, this is an in-person interview!”

 

[SL2]

You don't have to start the video to see that it's fake, there's something off with the eyes lol

 

[ZoneDymo]

You don't have to start the video to see that it's fake, there's something off with the eyes lol

View attachment 253820

Sure, now there still is, but in 2 or 3 years who knows....this vid is meant as warning and I think this tech will fundamentally change things honestly.

 

[FeelinFroggy]

People are pack animals by nature. We flock together and create large cities. There are only a few people who crave the vast emptiness of the world. I expect the work from home trend to fade. People need to interact with other people to continue to develop socially.

Sitting at home all day working alone sounds great, but what about all of the lost social interactions that would have taken place? These interactions uniquely define who we are, without those interactions, we are literally not the same person.

 

[eidairaman1]

People are pack animals by nature. We flock together and create large cities. There are only a few people who crave the vast emptiness of the world. I expect the work from home trend to fade. People need to interact with other people to continue to develop socially.

Sitting at home all day working alone sounds great, but what about all of the lost social interactions that would have taken place? These interactions uniquely define who we are, without those interactions, we are literally not the same person.

Depends on the work.

Anyways i see tons of fake work ads on facebook.

 

[CrAsHnBuRnXp]

You don't have to start the video to see that it's fake, there's something off with the eyes lol

View attachment 253820

Problem is most people wont notice it.

 

[bonehead123]

Anyways i see tons of fake work ads on facebook.

IMHO, anyone who has to resort to looking for a job on fakebook has no place being in the workforce anyways, nor should they be allowed to own or use a computer at all....

 

[bug]

I can see the listing now…

“Fully Remote Opportunity for local applicants only! Or anyone desperate enough to take days off, pay for a plane ticket, car rental, and hotel room for the privilege of sitting in a conference room for 30-90 minutes to talk to people who they’ll likely never see again in-person even if they do get the job! And don’t even think about bullshitting us, this is an in-person interview!”

Companies flying applicants in for (at least) an interview are nothing new.

 

[TheUn4seen]

People are pack animals by nature. We flock together and create large cities. There are only a few people who crave the vast emptiness of the world. I expect the work from home trend to fade. People need to interact with other people to continue to develop socially.

Sitting at home all day working alone sounds great, but what about all of the lost social interactions that would have taken place? These interactions uniquely define who we are, without those interactions, we are literally not the same person.

Honestly, I wouldn't bet on it. While it's true people evolved as pack animals, evolution, especially the part about higher intellectual functions, is very much a work in progress. With the horrible overpopulation and society's general inability to fix basic issues the trend of flocking together seems to somewhat fade, in Europe more people moved out of the cities than moved into them in last few years. In any case, most valuable social interactions tend to happen outside of working hours, it sometimes seems otherwise simply because most people spend such a high percentage of their time at work. If you add shorter working weeks, less time spent commuting between work and home and in general less stress, I don't see many people wishing to work from the office. Case in point: In a company employing 37 people only a guy who has four children below the age of seven declared a preference for going back to the office. So we sold the office, rented him a permanent space in one of those "co-working" places so he can escape his poor life choices, saved a large amount of money in the process. We work like this since mid 2020, only renting commercial space as needed, employees got healthy rises due to less overhead, everyone is happy and every mention of going back to the office is treated as a joke.

The deepfake thing is just people wanting a specific job and trying time and time again. Since the quicksave/quickload way is not possible in this horrible reality, this is the next best thing. Some of them are probably bad actors trying to get into positions of trust, hence the FBI involvement.

 

[DeathtoGnomes]

IMHO, anyone who has to resort to looking for a job on fakebook has no place being in the workforce anyways, nor should they be allowed to own or use a computer at all....

They would be eligible for a Darwin Award too.

 

[hsew]

Companies flying applicants in for (at least) an interview are nothing new.

I don’t doubt that, but for a fully remote position it just seems highly inefficient.

 

[dirtyferret]

Autistic people hate in-person interviews. As one myself, I do my absolute worst under such circumstances.

The pandemic was a godsend for my career.

as a parent of a child with special needs, I am glad you are doing well!

Companies flying applicants in for (at least) an interview are nothing new.

I got flown in for an interview to Terrre Haute, IN once. One look at that town and I wished I could have sent a Deepfake video instead.

I don’t doubt that, but for a fully remote position it just seems highly inefficient.

For a small to mid size company? Sure. For a fortune 500 company? It's cost of doing business and a write off. I used to travel a lot for very large corporation that would book me in $350+ a night rooms in downtown cities or by the airport. I would always tell them, I could stay at the Hampton Inn that's across from the business I was seeing for $150 a night, make my life easier and save you money but they always refused and said those hotels were not in their "approved" travel listings.

 

[bonehead123]

I got flown in for an interview to Terrre Haute, IN once. One look at that town and I wished I could have sent a Deepfake video instead.

That's because anyone who has to resort to looking for a job in Terra Hoytie has no place being in the workforce anyways, nor should they be allowed to own or use a computer at all....hahahah

 

[bug]

I don’t doubt that, but for a fully remote position it just seems highly inefficient.

I believe fully-remote has little to do with it. You wouldn't fly in someone you're going to pay minimum wage, but if you're going to pay them 5 grand or more each month, flying the candidates in is cheaper than not doing it and hiring the wrong person, even for a couple of months.

 

[mastrdrver]

The FBI warns that the FBI is using Deepfakes to justify entrapment.

Good to see things haven't change since Hoover was in charged.

 

[R-T-B]

You don't have to start the video to see that it's fake, there's something off with the eyes lol

View attachment 253820

That was also like one of the first deep fakes done. They've improved.

as a parent of a child with special needs, I am glad you are doing well!

Thank you. My disability-level is mild compared to some (in the past it was classed as Aspergers Syndrome), though I wish all the best.

 

[MentalAcetylide]

Hey, I saw what you did there:

"It's a case of a dog chasing its own tail: and who knows who'll win in the end."

 

[Minus Infinity]

People are pack animals by nature. We flock together and create large cities. There are only a few people who crave the vast emptiness of the world. I expect the work from home trend to fade. People need to interact with other people to continue to develop socially.

Sitting at home all day working alone sounds great, but what about all of the lost social interactions that would have taken place? These interactions uniquely define who we are, without those interactions, we are literally not the same person.

So would say humans are a bunch of flocking idiots then?

 

[R-T-B]

So would say humans are a bunch of flocking idiots then?

If you're trying to imply "humans are sheep" then yes, we are both social animals and our social cravings make us do weird things.

 

[LabRat 891]

Seriously? No one 'in a position of action' figured this would happen? It was the first thing I thought of when I saw remote work becoming common: multi-boxing/-botting MMORPG grinding modified towards remote employment.