Police have urged people to beware of scams that involve the new deepfake technology, in which scammers use artificial intelligence to replace, alter, or mimic someone's face in video or voice in audio.

Officers said a 25-year-old man had informed them back in March that some scammers tried to blackmail him – albeit unsuccessfully – by swapping his face to a pornographic video.

Victoria Ng, a senior inspector with the force's cyber security and technology crime bureau, said the man had a video chat with a stranger on a suspicious live-streaming app. Soon after, he was sent a "porn video" with his face on it, and asked to pay HK$10,000.

"He had downloaded a very suspicious app, which we think is a malicious app that had access to his phone records or information, so AI deepfake-generated pornographic material was used against him," she said.

Ng said the man deleted the app without paying the scammers, before notifying the force about the incident.

She urged people to download reliable apps from app stores, verify the identity of people they’re talking to, and limit access to their social media accounts.

Chan Shun-ching, a superintendent from the tech crime bureau, said officers are stepping up publicity efforts to raise awareness regarding AI-related crimes.

"AI simply provides a new channel for the scammers to gain trust and approach potential victims. [But] once they approach and gain trust from potential victims, the plot of all scams remain the same," he said.

He added that the force is also working with the banking industry on a system that alerts people if they want to transfer money to suspected scammers through the Faster Payment System.