Hackers used Binance’s CCO Deepfake to run stock market listing scams

The attackers used what Patrick Hillmann described as an AI Hologram, a deepfake of his image for this purpose, and managed to fool some representatives of these projects into believing that it would help them get listed on Binance.

Patrick Hillmann, CCO of Binance, usurped by third parties

Scammers are refining their methods by including more technological tools in their schemes. Binance Communications Director (CCO) Patrick Hillmann reported last week that a sophisticated way of using his image to run a listing scam operation.

Patrick Hillmann said that hackers managed to program an AI (artificial intelligence) hologram of him, a kind of deepfake that was used to scam representatives of several cryptocurrency projects in Zoom calls. The hologram was able to fool these people into believing that their projects were on the list for an upcoming listing on Binance and that Hillmann was one of those who could help them speed up the inclusion process for a fee.

Patrick Hillmann did not disclose the details of the targeted crypto-currency projects, nor the funds invested for the alleged listing services.

Scams on the Web

The Binance CCO also alerted to an increase in this type of identity theft scam on several social networking platforms all over the Internet. In this regard, Patrick Hillmann stated:

Beyond this latest incident, there has been a recent spike in hackers posing as Binance employees and executives on platforms such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, etc. We are prepared to defend our users and our ecosystem.

Binance’s listing process does not include third parties, Patrick Hillmann said, and project listing proposals are only received via a direct listing request page. According to a blog post from last year, Binance does not apply a fixed listing fee to these projects. About the value of the listing fee, Binance explains:

There is no fixed number. Just come up with a number you’re comfortable with. Show your willingness to contribute to social impact.

In addition, all fees collected by the exchange are donated to Binance Charity, a charity tracked by the blockchain and sponsored by the exchange. Listing scams seem to be becoming more common, as Bluebenx, a Brazilian crypto-currency investment platform, has also fallen victim to this type of scam recently.