FBI Warns Crooks Are Using Deep Fake Videos In Interviews For Remote Gigs

The US FBI issued a warning on Tuesday that it was has received increasing numbers of complaints relating to the use of deepfake videos during interviews for tech jobs that involve access to sensitive systems and information.

The deepfake videos include a video image or recording convincingly manipulated to misrepresent someone as the “applicant” for jobs that can be performed remotely. The Bureau reports the scam has been tried on jobs for developers, “database, and software-related job functions”. Some of the targeted jobs required access to customers’ personal information, financial data, large databases and/or proprietary information.

“In these interviews, the actions and lip movement of the person seen interviewed on-camera do not completely coordinate with the audio of the person speaking. At times, actions such as coughing, sneezing, or other auditory actions are not aligned with what is presented visually,” said the FBI in a public service announcement.

To lend an air of authenticity to their applications, the dodgy job seekers used stolen personal identification information. The victims whose data was stolen reported their identities being used for pre-employment background checks and more.

The FBI’s warning does not offer any information about who might be behind this scam.

But the motive is clear: if attackers can get themselves hired, they’ll have a chance to loot data, deliver ransomware, or worse.

Deepfaked job applicants aren’t the only threat the Bureau has recently warned talent-starved IT shops to avoid. In May it warned of North Korean cyberspies posing as foreign IT workers.

In that case, it wasn’t clear if the workers were spies or just wanted to collect a paycheck many times larger than citizens of the hermit kingdom could earn in other occupations. ®

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