A finance employee at the Hong Kong office of British engineering and design consultancy Arup was deceived into making 15 separate wire transfers totaling roughly $25.6 million after joining a video conference in which every other participant, including a person appearing to be the company’s UK-based CFO, was an AI-generated deepfake. The scam began with a phishing email requesting a confidential transaction, and the employee’s doubts were overcome by realistic deepfake video and audio of familiar colleagues. The fraud, which took place in January 2024, was only discovered when the employee later checked in with Arup’s real headquarters, and Hong Kong police disclosed the case in February 2024.