2024-01-01 (incident), Month only: the fraud took place in January 2024, and Hong Kong police received the report on 29 January 2024. · HK · Arup

Arup Hong Kong deepfake CFO video call fraud, 2024

Unconfirmed by a primary sourceHong Kong police briefed reporters without naming the company, and Arup confirmed the case only in statements to journalists; no published police release or Arup filing was found.

Disclosed by the affected organisation.

In January 2024 a finance employee in Arup's Hong Kong office received a message about a confidential transaction that appeared to come from the UK-based CFO, followed by a video conference in which the CFO and other staff were deepfakes built from public video and audio. The employee made 15 transfers totalling HK$200 million to five Hong Kong bank accounts. Police described the case in February without naming the company; Arup confirmed in May that fake voices and images were used.

HK$200M (stolen, about $26M; HK$200 million across 15 transfers; US dollar figure as converted by Hong Kong Free Press (US$26 million).)

Timeline

1. 2024-01-29 Hong Kong police receive the report of the fraud.
2. 2024-02-05 Hong Kong Free Press reports that police described the case without naming the company and that no arrest had been made.
3. 2024-05-17 Media reports identify Arup as the victim, and Arup confirms that fake voices and images were used.

Lessons

• Require call-back verification on a known number for any large or confidential transfer request, even after a video call.
• Split large payments so that no single employee can release them, and add a hold for new beneficiary accounts.
• Train finance staff that seeing and hearing several familiar colleagues on a call is no longer proof they are real.

Scam types: Deepfake CFO video call fraud

Sources

1. Hong Kong Free Press: Multinational loses HK$200 million to deepfake video conference scam, Hong Kong police say (News report, secondary, accessed 2026-09-24)
2. Dezeen: Arup victim of multimillion-dollar deepfake video scam in Hong Kong (News report, secondary, accessed 2026-09-24)