Hong Kong has been hit hard by the deepfake wave, experiencing a staggering 1000% increase in Q1 2024, a figure that far surpasses the global average of 245%, according to a report by Sumsub. This alarming trend is not unique to Hong Kong, as deepfake scams are also on the rise in China (2800%), South Korea (1625%), Turkey (1533%), and Singapore (1100%).
"As we witness the escalating prevalence of deepfakes, it becomes increasingly clear that these challenges extend beyond business realms. They reflect the broader landscape of the wider digital world, where fighting misinformation, the spread of AI-generated scams, and online fraud is imperative to safeguarding society," said Vyacheslav Zholudev, co-founder and CTO of Sumsub.
Key highlights
Sumsub's data analysis reveals that Hong Kong is grappling with the highest Identity fraud rate in the fintech sector, with a YoY increase of 216%, surpassing Singapore (142%), Thailand (138%), and Malaysia (108%).
Further, data revealed that China and Vietnam are among the countries with the highest absolute amount of deepfakes detected in Q1 2024 globally.
Among all detected fraud, the proportion of deepfakes multiplied YoY in China (0.1% of all fraud in Q1 2023 to 2.1%), Singapore (0.8%), and Hong Kong (0.4%) in Q1 2024.
APAC's most widespread fraud type in Q1 2024 was identity document forgery, followed by fake documents and selfie mismatch. Among all these fraud types, fake documents contributed to 20% of total deepfake cases in Hong Kong.