Surrey PCC warns about fraud with deepfake video

A screenshot of the AI deepfake video showing the fake Lisa Townsend

Surrey's police and crime commissioner (PCC) has become the subject of a deepfake video as part of a campaign to warn people about this kind of fraud.

Lisa Townsend posted a video to social media in which she appears to promote a financial scheme enticing users to find out how they could "secure money in their bank accounts".

The fake moving image of Ms Townsend explains how to register, before the real PCC explains the video has actually been created using artifical intelligence (AI).

Ms Townsend said she wanted to "show how easy it is for fraudsters to convincingly impersonate somebody, particularly those in the public eye".

The video is part of the Question Everything campaign, which highlights the dangers of AI generated fraud.

Deepfakes use a type of technology called "machine learning" to create a digital version of someone.

This maps a person's face and mouth movements so that it can then copy them.

Ms Townsend said: "Artificial intelligence is becoming more sophisticated every day and whilst it can no doubt bring huge benefits to the way we work and live – it is also being exploited by criminals looking to target people for profit.

"Only three seconds of audio is required to clone a person's voice to be manipulated and say whatever a criminal wants. The results are frightening."

With Black Friday sales and Christmas fast approaching, she warned people to pause and question everything they watch, read or hear.

"AI has made the scammers' space into a fraudsters' paradise," she said.