Fraudsters have targeted the African Union Commission, employing artificial intelligence techniques to impersonate the Commission’s head, Moussa Faki.

Moussa Faki, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, typically initiates contact with global leaders via formal letters known as “note verbale” to schedule meetings.

These letters serve as the standard procedure for arranging meetings between the African Union leadership and representatives of other countries and international organizations.

The cybercriminals employed counterfeit email addresses and posed as the organization’s deputy chief of staff, ostensibly arranging calls between foreign leaders and Moussa Faki.

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Ebba Kalondo, Mr. Faki’s spokesperson, confirmed that the pranksters conducted video calls with several European leaders while utilizing deep fake video modifications to impersonate the Chairperson.

In response, the African Union Commission expressed its regret over these incidents and emphasized its commitment to diplomatic protocol, exclusively using “note verbale” for high-level engagement requests.

While the intentions of the imposters remain unclear, the term “phishing” was used in the AU statement, indicating potential motives to steal digital identities and access privileged information.

The technology employed by cybercriminals, known as deep fakes, is gaining popularity and is sometimes used to disseminate misinformation and propaganda.

Deep fakes utilize artificial intelligence tools to create a video of someone saying or doing things they never actually did, including altering their image, voice, and traits.