[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"branding":3,"analytics":7,"article-three-men-charged-in-129m-ai-impersonation-scheme":10,"sections":49},{"siteName":4,"siteTagline":5,"publisherName":4,"contactEmail":6},"The Revision","Tech news, decoded.","editor@therevision.news",{"gaMeasurementId":8,"adsenseClientId":9},"G-ZW2MV82GYR","ca-pub-8533917693782264",{"article":11},{"id":12,"slug":13,"title":14,"dek":15,"body_md":16,"tags_json":17,"published_at":18,"created_at":19,"updated_at":20,"status":21,"review_note":22,"review_notes":23,"image_url":22,"persona_id":22,"persona_name":22,"section":38,"tags":39,"sources":44,"feedback":48,"feedback_at":22,"cost_usd":48,"total_tokens":48},12535,"three-men-charged-in-129m-ai-impersonation-scheme","Three Men Charged in $129M AI Impersonation Scheme","Manhattan prosecutors say three men cloned bosses' and lawyers' voices and faces with AI to get staff to wire about $129M.","Three men face US charges for using AI to copy the voices and faces of company bosses and lawyers, then getting staff to wire about $129M.\n\nThe US Attorney's Office in Manhattan said the indictment is now unsealed. It names Jacob Soall, 41, Sharon Hazan, 54, and Guy Sheetrit, 42. Prosecutors allege the men imitated executives and lawyers convincingly enough that employees sent the money. Spanish police arrested Soall.\n\nThe technique is usually called a deepfake: AI-generated audio or video that imitates a real person. Deepfakes are not new to fraud, but the amount here stands out. One of the larger publicly known earlier cases, at the engineering firm Arup in 2024, involved a Hong Kong employee who transferred about $25M after a video call with fake colleagues, according to press accounts at the time. At $129M, the sum in this indictment is roughly five times that.\n\nThe allegations cover both bosses and lawyers, two roles that commonly appear when large payments are approved. That matters because it points to a target that no software filter protects: a person who gets a call or a video request that looks and sounds like someone senior.\n\nAn indictment is a set of allegations, not a finding of guilt. It also leaves open how many companies were targeted, over what period, and how much of the money has been recovered. Those details will show whether this was a handful of large hits or a repeatable operation.","[\"deepfakes\",\"fraud\",\"ai\",\"cybercrime\"]","2026-11-07T11:01:01.000Z","2026-11-08T07:54:16.667Z","2026-11-08T07:54:16.984Z","published",null,[24,30,34],{"id":25,"reviewer":26,"round":27,"reason":28,"status":29},"editor-r1","editor",1,"Remove or source the unsupported specifics: the source says only that the indictment was unsealed 'on Thursday', not 'November 5', and it says 'staff', not 'finance staff'. Also cut the speculation that the $129M figure suggests a 'sustained operation', and stick to what the source supports.","resolved",{"id":31,"reviewer":26,"round":32,"reason":33,"status":29},"editor-r2",2,"The draft fixes the date, 'staff' and 'sustained operation' problems, but it still makes claims the truncated source doesn't support: that the scheme 'did not break into anything', that impersonating lawyers was 'a telling choice', and that the number of targeted companies and the tools used are 'unanswered in the public details'. Cut or source those claims, and end on a concluding line grounded in what the source says.",{"id":35,"reviewer":26,"round":36,"reason":37,"status":29},"editor-r3",3,"Replace the unsupported 'November 5' with the source's 'Thursday' (or drop the date), and cut or soften the unsourced claims that 'tricked' is what prosecutors mean, that this explains the scale, and that staff 'are inclined to follow' bosses and lawyers, so the piece sticks to what the truncated source states and keeps a grounded closing line.","security",[40,41,42,43],"deepfakes","fraud","ai","cybercrime",[45],{"name":46,"url":47},"The Next Web","https:\u002F\u002Fthenextweb.com\u002Fnews\u002Fus-charges-three-ai-ceo-impersonation-129m-fraud",0,{"sections":50},[51,55,59,64,69,74,79,84,89,94,99,104,109,114],{"name":52,"slug":42,"count":53,"latest_published_at":54},"AI",7110,"2026-11-08T14:34:09.000Z",{"name":56,"slug":38,"count":57,"latest_published_at":58},"Security",1099,"2026-11-08T15:24:01.000Z",{"name":60,"slug":61,"count":62,"latest_published_at":63},"Deals","deals",620,"2026-11-08T08:00:00.000Z",{"name":65,"slug":66,"count":67,"latest_published_at":68},"Policy","policy",604,"2026-11-07T15:48:26.000Z",{"name":70,"slug":71,"count":72,"latest_published_at":73},"Consumer Tech","consumer-tech",336,"2026-11-08T21:00:00.000Z",{"name":75,"slug":76,"count":77,"latest_published_at":78},"Hardware","hardware",316,"2026-11-08T14:36:39.000Z",{"name":80,"slug":81,"count":82,"latest_published_at":83},"Science","science",222,"2026-11-07T16:19:17.000Z",{"name":85,"slug":86,"count":87,"latest_published_at":88},"Software","software",154,"2026-11-08T15:42:52.000Z",{"name":90,"slug":91,"count":92,"latest_published_at":93},"Startups","startups",150,"2026-11-06T16:50:01.000Z",{"name":95,"slug":96,"count":97,"latest_published_at":98},"Dev Tools","dev-tools",125,"2026-11-06T22:15:59.000Z",{"name":100,"slug":101,"count":102,"latest_published_at":103},"General","general",111,"2026-11-08T21:27:29.000Z",{"name":105,"slug":106,"count":107,"latest_published_at":108},"Gaming","gaming",94,"2026-11-08T20:52:05.000Z",{"name":110,"slug":111,"count":112,"latest_published_at":113},"Reviews","reviews",38,"2026-10-20T12:00:00.000Z",{"name":115,"slug":116,"count":117,"latest_published_at":118},"How-To","how-to",8,"2026-10-05T09:00:00.000Z"]