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The CEO in the meeting was not real.

In May 2024, fraudsters tried to impersonate Mark Read, CEO of WPP, the world's biggest advertising group, in a virtual meeting set up with a fake WhatsApp account, a voice clone and YouTube footage. The attempt failed.

01The case
Date
May 2024 (made public)
Where
United Kingdom
Target
An agency leader at WPP
Method
Fake WhatsApp account, Microsoft Teams meeting, voice clone and YouTube footage
Outcome
No money or personal details obtained

The fraudsters created a WhatsApp account using a publicly available image of Mark Read. With it, they set up a Microsoft Teams meeting that appeared to be with Read and another senior WPP executive.

In the meeting they used a voice clone of the other executive and YouTube footage of them, while impersonating Read off-camera through the meeting's chat window. The target was an agency leader, who was asked to set up a new business in an attempt to obtain money and personal details.

The attempt failed. In an email to the company's leadership, Read wrote: "Just because the account has my photo doesn't mean it's me." He listed requests for passports, money transfers and any mention of a secret acquisition, transaction or payment that no one else knows about as red flags.

02What we learn

The attack moved from email into the meeting.

  • A public photo and video footage were enough to build a fake identity.
  • The voice clone covered the gaps in the picture: one executive was faked in voice and video, the other only in text.
  • Secret acquisitions, urgent payments, personal documents: such requests need separate verification, whoever they appear to come from.

SynVoi analyses whether the voice in phone calls and recordings is cloned, and shows second by second where synthetic speech begins in a recording.

03Sources

This post is compiled from the public news reports below; figures and dates are as reported in the sources. The image is illustrative.

  1. The GuardianCEO of world’s biggest ad firm targeted by deepfake scam
  2. Campaign AsiaWPP chief exec Mark Read targeted by deepfake scammers
04More news

All news

05Contact

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