According to Berlin Senate spokeswoman Lisa Frerich, Ms Gifai began questioning the identity of her interlocutor when his questions became bizarre.
The mayor of Berlin, Francesca Gifai, fell victim to digital fraud, who, in a teleconference with the mayor of Kiev Vitali Klitschko, found out that her interlocutor was not a real person, but a product of “deep fake” technology. The issue is being investigated by the State Security Service.
According to Berlin Senate spokeswoman Lisa Frerich, Ms Gifai began questioning the identity of her interlocutor when his questions became bizarre. At first, Ms. Frerich explained, everything seemed normal, with “Vitali Klitschko” interested in welcoming Ukrainian refugees from Berlin, as would be expected. Then, however, some issues were raised that made the mayor suspect. One question concerned a alleged conversation between the mayor of Kiev and the Ukrainian ambassador to Berlin, Andriy Melnik, in which the former boxer asked the diplomat how Germany dealt with the fact that so many Ukrainians were seeking to secure German welfare benefits. In addition, the Ukrainian mayor asked Ms. Gifai to urge young Ukrainian men to return to their homeland to fight.
Most characteristic, however, according to the Senate spokeswoman, was that alleged Vitali Klitschko was asking if Berlin could help give Kyiv a “pride parade.” “Because of the war, that was more than weird,” Ms. Frerich said, adding that the connection was terminated shortly afterwards. “Obviously we are dealing with a deep fake,” the spokeswoman said, adding that there was no indication that he was not a real person. The Ukrainian ambassador to Berlin, Andriy Melnik, confirmed a while ago that Mr. Klitschko had no contact with Ms. Gifai today. “Unfortunately, it is part of the reality that the war is being waged by any means – and online – in order to use digital methods to undermine trust and discredit Ukraine’s partners and allies,” said the mayor of the German capital.
“Deep fakes” are videos, which with the help of an actor and artificial intelligence replace the actor’s face
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