According to Gizmodo, the FBI issued a troubling warning that deepfakes are increasingly being used to apply for work-from-home positions along with stolen personal information.
Now that deepfakes are involved, companies may find it more difficult to assess applicants. The FBI issues a warning that companies are interviewing people who have impersonated someone else using face-altering technologies and are also using stolen personal information.
The majority of incidents that have been reported, according to the FBI, have involved data, IT, and computer science.
Thankfully, there are a few warning signs to watch out for when interviewing potential work-from-home employees.
In interviews for remote or work-from-home positions in information technology, programming, databases, and other software-related roles, the people using deepfakes-a technology that uses artificial intelligence to make it look like a person is doing or saying things they actually aren't-were using deepfakes, according to the FBI's public service announcement. When lip motions and facial expressions didn't match the audio of the interviewee, particularly when they coughed or sneezed, employers recognized certain telltale indicators of digital manipulation.
In an effort to pass background checks, the deep-faking interviewees also attempted to relay personally identifiable information that had been taken from someone else.
Voice impersonation during online interviews and other peculiarities that confounded interviewers have been reported to the FBI. The FBI cautions businesses to be aware of deepfakes and stolen identification during remote job interviews.
Employers conducting online interviews should be mindful that some of the individuals they are considering might not be who they claim to be. The FBI has warned businesses that dishonest actors are utilizing deep fakes and stolen IDs to apply for jobs using sensitive information.
This is the most recent use of deepfakes, which gained popularity in 2019 with worry-inspiring ability to accurately mimic other people's features and sounds, put victims in awkward circumstances like pornography, or spark political unrest. Since then, hobbyists have utilized deepfakes for more innocent pranks, such as fixing de-aging in The Mandalorian on Disney Plus or replacing a too serious Caped Crusader with a lighter one in moments for The Batman.
However, the risk of deepfakes being used for political purposes still exists, as demonstrated by Facebook's removal of a hoaxed video of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy back in March. The EU recently tightened its anti-disinformation regulations to combat deepfakes, but their use in routine contexts like job interviews demonstrates how simple it is to access and put to use the deception technology.
