The US DOJ indicts three foreign nationals for allegedly using AI to impersonate CEOs and attorneys at major international law firms in a $129M+ fraud scheme (Rebecca Cohen/NBC News)

The US Department of Justice has indicted three foreign nationals for an alleged $129 million fraud scheme involving the use of artificial intelligence. According to the South China Morning Post and Free Press Journal, Jacob Soall, 41, Sharon Hazan, 54, and Guy Sheetrit, 42, are accused of using AI to impersonate corporate executives and attorneys to target thousands of companies worldwide over an 18-month period.

The defendants, who hail from Spain, the UK, Israel, and the United Arab Emirates, face charges of wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering.

Court documents filed in a New York US District Court state that the group often targeted accounting departments by sending emails appearing to be from CEOs requesting assistance with confidential financial transactions. They also used AI to coordinate phone or video calls. Victims of the scheme included a bank in Rhode Island, hospital systems in California and Missouri, a mutual fund company in Massachusetts, a pet food company in Florida, and a financial technology firm in the United Kingdom.

The South China Morning Post reports that the three individuals were arrested between June and September and use nicknames including “Superman Cash”, “Rocky Balboa”, and “Fat Boy”. Additionally, the South China Morning Post notes that Hazan was previously convicted in a New York court in 2008 for conspiracy to commit bank fraud. NBC News reports that federal prosecutors allege the suspects used AI to convince employees to transfer millions of dollars.

Brief written by urgent.news from Techmeme, South China Morning Post, Free Press Journal — 3 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.