Elon Musk’s image and voice have been used in cryptocurrency scams in the past and now are a central part of a sophisticated attack aimed at the upcoming Paris Olympics, which has increasingly become the target of a wide range of cyberthreats over the past year.

According to researchers with McAfee, bad actors have created what is said to be a three-part series hosted on Amazon Prime that uses AI-based deepfake technology to make it appear to be narrated by Musk. Titled “Olympics has Fallen II: The End of Thomas Bach,” the series is being distributed on the Telegram messaging service and appears to be the work of the same people who last year put out another short series called “Olympics Has Fallen” and featuring the deepfake voice of actor Tom Cruise.

The cybercriminals behind it falsely claimed the series was developed by Netflix while it, too, was distributed via Telegram channels. According to McAfee, the goal of video is to discredit the leadership of the Paris Olympics, which are set to begin July 26.

In the week after its release June 24 on Telegram, the latest series featuring Musk’s image and voice has attracted more than 150,000 viewers.

“In addition to claiming to be an Amazon Prime story, the creators of this content have also circulated images of what seem to be fabricated endorsements and reviews from reputable publishers, enhancing their attempt at social engineering,” McAfee research lead Lakshya Mathur and Abhishek Karnik, head of threat research at the cybersecurity firm, wrote in a report, calling the series a “particularly malicious scam that not only aims to deceive but also to portray the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as corrupt.”

There are Glitches

The three-part series features episodes that use AI-based voice cloning, image diffusion, and lip-sync technologies to create false images and narration, Mathur and Karnik wrote. While at first glance, the series appears to be professionally created, a deeper dive into the video revealed various glitches and other clues that indicate it was created using AI technologies.

According to the researchers, it appears that the series’ creators took video from a Wall Street Journal interview of Musk and then altered it to the point where the deepfake audio “is almost indiscernible by human inspection.” However, they found glitches in the altered video that and said the lip syncing, while good, wasn’t perfect.

McAfee at the RSA conference in May showcased its new Deepfake Detector tool – formerly known as Project Mockingbird – that is designed to better help people detect AI-generated audio.

The Deepfake Threat

The use of deepfakes – both in voice and images – to steal money and data have been a worry in the industry since OpenAI released its generative AI ChatGPT chatbot in late November 2022. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) last month issued an alert to consumers about the use of deepfake audio and video links in robocalls and imposter scams that spread misinformation or steal money or personal information.

A month earlier, management consulting firm Deloitte wrote a report about the rising threat of deepfakes in the banking industry, noting a high-profile incident in January in which an employee of a company based in Hong Kong, believing she was on a video call with colleagues and her CFO, sent $25 million to fraudsters.

“It turned out, however, that she wasn’t on a call with any of these people: Fraudsters created a deepfake that replicated their likenesses to trick her into sending the money,” Deloitte wrote.

Musk a Popular Figure to Mimic

Deepfake scams often will rely on altered images and voices of celebrities and public figures. McAfee late last year released its Hacker Celebrity Hot List for 2023 of the most mimicked people in deepfake and other AI-generated content. Actor Ryan Gosling was number one on the list; Musk came in sixth, right between actor Kevin Costner and TV meteorologist Al Roker.

Musk’s voice and likeness have been most often linked to cryptocurrency scams. Most recently, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission in May warned about an entity called Quantum AI, which claimed to offer AI-based crypto trading services and boasted of direct affiliation with Musk. It used AI-generated videos and images of Musk on its now-defunct website and social media content.

Paris Olympics in the Crosshairs

The use of AI technology in attacks on the Paris Olympics isn’t surprising. The Microsoft Threat Analysis Center (MTAC) last month issued reports about Russia-linked threat groups using both old tactics and AI in campaigns aimed at discrediting the IOC and fueling the threat of violence breaking out in Paris during the Games. In a report, MTAC General Manager Clint Watts outlined the actions of two threat groups – Storm-1679 and Storm-1099 – have been focusing on the Olympics for a year and said Storm-1679 was responsible for the original “Olympics Has Fallen” series.

The group also has used AI-generated deceptive videos ramping up worries about expected violence in Paris in hopes of keeping people away, Watts wrote. He added that as the Games get closer, Russian threat group activities will intensify.

“While video has traditionally been a powerful tool for Russian IO [influence operation] campaigns and will remain so, we are likely to see a tactical shift towards online bots and automated social media accounts,” Watts wrote. “These can offer the illusion of widespread support by quickly flooding social media channels and give the Russians a level of plausible deniability.”

Trend Micro researchers also wrote about ways bad actors could use deepfake technologies at the Olympics.

“Fake news could misrepresent who won or lost a particular event,” they wrote last month. “Deepfake audio could tarnish a coach, player, team, or judge by putting controversial words in their mouths. Deepfake images or video could be used to smear an athlete and prevent them from competing. Threat actors may want to sow discord with AI-generated content, and the Olympics provide a large platform for driving social wedges.”