Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, co-founder and former CEO of Binance, has issued a warning regarding the increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI) in deepfake hacking. This announcement was reported by The Cryptonomist.
According to Trading View, Zhao’s warning followed an incident involving Japanese crypto influencer Mai Fujimoto. Her social accounts were compromised during a Zoom call when she was deceived into clicking on a fraudulent “microphone fix” link sent by an acquaintance whose account had already been hijacked. The attack led to breaches of her X, Telegram, and Metamask accounts. Zhao cautioned that even video calls may no longer be safe due to the rise of AI-generated deepfakes.
Reuters reports that in 2024, there was a significant surge in crypto scams, with total revenues estimated between $9.9 billion and $12.4 billion. This increase was largely driven by AI-enhanced schemes. Chainalysis attributed much of this rise to “pig butchering” and phishing scams optimized using generative AI tools. These tactics included personalized deepfakes, voice cloning, and AI chatbots designed to deceive victims at scale.
AI service providers facilitating crypto-related scams received over $375.9 million in digital assets in 2024. According to Chainalysis, there was a 1900% increase in funds directed to such services between 2021 and 2024. These providers offer tools for generating fake identities, coordinating scam campaigns, and laundering illicit proceeds, contributing to the industrialization of AI-driven fraud as reported by Coin Telegraph.
Binance was co-founded in 2017 by Changpeng Zhao, commonly known as CZ, who served as CEO until stepping down in 2023. According to Forbes, Zhao built Binance into the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume and has remained a key figure in the global crypto industry.
