Film company is targeted by fake AI Benedict Cumberbatch

A film production company was targeted by fraudsters using a voice ‘clone’ of Benedict Cumberbatch created by AI, the company revealed to DailyMail.com.

An eerily persuasive Benedict Cumberbatch called the company to discuss a movie deal, says Bob William, screenwriter and director at Peabody Films, a company based in Malaga, Spain.

The AI ​​Cumberbatch was “100 per cent the voice,” Mr William says, adding that the company was initially convinced it was the real actor.

When ‘Cumberbatch’ and his agent refused to meet in person, they realized the ruse, which saved them from losing any money.

But many others have fallen for similar scams as AI opens the door to new tools that bad actors can use to steal money from unsuspecting people.

Peabody Films technical staff realized the call was from Philadelphia (Peabody Films)

“At first, the email seemed like a dream come true. Benedict Cumberbatch had apparently read the script for our upcoming film and was interested in discussing a possible role,’ Mr William said.

‘When we read on, we couldn’t believe our luck.

“Here was one of the most talented actors of our time, who contacted us and showed interest in our project.

“We were shocked and disappointed to find out that we had fallen victim to an AI program posing as a famous actor.”

The director says it is an “example of the increasing sophistication of AI technology and its potential to deceive.”

Mr William said they were initially emailed by someone claiming to be the Avengers star’s agent, who then suggested calling.

He realized it was a scam when the number he’d called from seemed to have too many digits – and the fake ‘Cumberbatch’ was also very reluctant to meet in person.

The technology to mimic human voices is already here – and is already being used by fraudsters.

Cybersecurity company McAfee found that in the US, UK, France, Germany, Japan, Australia and India, ten percent of people are targeted by an AI speech scam.

They also show remarkable effectiveness, with 78 percent of those reportedly targeted losing money as a result.

Earlier this year, Microsoft researchers demonstrated a text-to-speech AI model that can synthesize a person’s voice from a three-second audio clip.

The model, VALL-E, can maintain the emotional tone of the speaker and allow the person to say anything – with the makers suggesting it could be used to create audio content written by other AI models.

The fake “Cumberbatch” was 100 percent convincing, Mr. William said.

‘It was the voice. No doubt about it,’ he continued.

“AI must have been the source. At first we thought it might be a voice actor playing a prank, but then it went further and they started asking for money. ‘

The company had several conversations with “Cumberbatch,” but then noticed “some red flags,” William says — including his reluctance to meet in person.

“There were some odd requests too, like asking us to pay a £200,000 entry fee before we even met in person.”

William says he challenged the fake cop about where he’d seen the script for the upcoming movie, Emma, ​​which wasn’t widely circulated.

The question was not even acknowledged.

When he called the real switchboard, he asked about James Hayes, only to be told no one by that name worked for the company.

William says he thinks he was targeted because as a small manufacturing company they wouldn’t have the resources to check the details.

He says he will now notify the company the alleged officer claimed to be from – Conway VanGelder – and says he is considering reporting the attack to the police.

AI-generated fake images and audio are already widely used in business fraud, AI and fraud expert Alexey Khitrov, founder and president of ID R&D, said in a conversation with DailyMail.com.

He said: ‘We conducted a survey of the business participants there. What we’ve seen is that 42 percent of them have seen the deep fakes used in fraudulent attempts within their industry. So it’s real, it’s already there.’

Peabody Films is an independent production company founded by iconic British film director Barney Platts-Mills, known for award-winning films such as Bronco Bullfrog and Private Road.

Since Platts-Mill’s death in 2021, the company has produced feature films, including The Way We Are and The Way We Were, due for release in 2024.