Three charged over AI voice and video impersonation scheme that took about $129 million

Three people accused of using artificial intelligence to impersonate corporate executives and attorneys to steal about $129 million have been indicted on wire fraud and aggravated identity theft charges, prosecutors said Thursday. Jacob Soall, 41, Sharon Hazan, 54, and Guy Sheetrit, 42, were also charged with money laundering, according to the indictment filed in a U.S. District Court in New York.

Over more than a year and a half, the three targeted thousands of companies across the world, the indictment says. Named victims include hospital systems in Missouri and California, a bank in Rhode Island, a financial technology company in the UK, a mutual fund company in Massachusetts and a pet food company in Florida.

The pattern described in court documents: an email that looks like it's from the CEO asking for help with a confidential financial transaction, then a phone or video call where AI mimics the CEO's voice and sometimes their image. The employee is told to contact an attorney at a major law firm, and the group was ready to play that part too. Soall mainly impersonated UK attorneys and kept a handwritten script titled "Lawyer Call," according to the U.S. attorney's office. The fake attorney would direct large wire payments to accounts around the world, and the money was converted into cryptocurrency.

The three were arrested between June and September. Hazan was convicted in a New York court in 2008 of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. The docket was still sealed as of Thursday evening, and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York did not immediately respond to a voicemail from the Associated Press.

Each charge carries a maximum of 20 years, except aggravated identity theft, which carries two.

For defenders, the case is a reminder that voice and video are no longer proof of identity on a payment request. Callback verification to a number you already hold, and a second approver on large wires, are the controls that would have bitten here. The indictment doesn't say how the group picked its targets or how many of the thousands of attempts succeeded.