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Cardano dev warns community after AI deepfake call leads to laptop breach

Photo: Tom Kotov

Cardano dev warns community after AI deepfake call leads to laptop breach

AI-generated deepfakes pose a growing threat to crypto security by exploiting trust in personal connections.

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by Vivian Nguyen

Scammers are using artificial intelligence to impersonate real people in crypto with enough accuracy to fool developers who have met them in person.

Big Pey, a Cardano ecosystem developer and contributor recognized by industry leaders like Charles Hoskinson, believes his laptop may have been compromised after joining a deepfake video call impersonating a Cardano Foundation contact.

According to details shared by the developer on X, Big Pey was contacted by someone posing as “Pierre,” a person he had spoken with before. They arranged a meeting, and when he joined, the call appeared legitimate, with familiar visuals, audio, and multiple participants.

During the call, he was told his Microsoft Teams client was outdated and was instructed to update it using terminal commands.

He began following the instructions but shut down his laptop soon after because the battery was low. He believes this may have interrupted the attack before it could be completed

In hindsight, he considers the update request a likely attempt to install malicious software.

“Moral of the story, be careful. Trust nothing, trust no one,” Big Pey warned. “AI is making scamming more sophisticated, and as someone who is quite technical savvy, I just got cooked.”

He wasn’t the only target. Within hours of his disclosure, similar stories came in from across the crypto industry. CashAnvil, a Cardano constitutional delegate and agency CEO, described an almost identical approach with the fake Pierre, Teams link, the works, but caught the scam because the impersonator didn’t ask for a LinkedIn connection as the real Pierre would have.

Zac Zou, co-founder of DWF Labs, a major crypto market maker, revealed the scammer had booked a call with him that same week.

Alessia Baumgar, a VP at DWF Labs, shared screenshots of suspicious Telegram messages from the fake account, noting that when she asked if Pierre had been hacked, the conversation was deleted.

The numbers behind the trend

According to 2025 FBI data, total internet fraud losses reached a record $20.9 billion, with investment fraud being the costliest category at over $8.6 billion. The year marked the debut of AI-related reporting, with $893 million in losses tied to AI-enabled scams.

In the first quarter of 2026, the web3 sector saw around $465 million in losses, as reported by blockchain security firm Hacken. Phishing and social engineering remained the primary threats, accounting for $306 million, or roughly 66%, of the total quarterly damage.

Ties to state-affiliated actors

The security advisory group SEAL published a detailed report linking similar tactics to DPRK-affiliated threat actors, specifically a group called UNC1069, which has been running fake Microsoft Teams and Zoom calls targeting crypto figures. They released 164 indicators of compromise tied to these campaigns.

MetaMask’s Taylor Monahan previously issued an urgent set of guidelines for users who may have been exposed to a cyberattack, advising them to immediately disconnect their computer from the internet and shut it down.

She recommended using only mobile devices to transfer funds to secure storage, update passwords and access keys, and fully wipe compromised systems before returning them to service.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Vivian Nguyen. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
AI

Cardano dev warns community after AI deepfake call leads to laptop breach

Cardano dev warns community after AI deepfake call leads to laptop breach

AI-generated deepfakes pose a growing threat to crypto security by exploiting trust in personal connections.

by Vivian Nguyen

Share

Add us on Google

Photo: Tom Kotov

Scammers are using artificial intelligence to impersonate real people in crypto with enough accuracy to fool developers who have met them in person.

Big Pey, a Cardano ecosystem developer and contributor recognized by industry leaders like Charles Hoskinson, believes his laptop may have been compromised after joining a deepfake video call impersonating a Cardano Foundation contact.

According to details shared by the developer on X, Big Pey was contacted by someone posing as “Pierre,” a person he had spoken with before. They arranged a meeting, and when he joined, the call appeared legitimate, with familiar visuals, audio, and multiple participants.

During the call, he was told his Microsoft Teams client was outdated and was instructed to update it using terminal commands.

He began following the instructions but shut down his laptop soon after because the battery was low. He believes this may have interrupted the attack before it could be completed

In hindsight, he considers the update request a likely attempt to install malicious software.

“Moral of the story, be careful. Trust nothing, trust no one,” Big Pey warned. “AI is making scamming more sophisticated, and as someone who is quite technical savvy, I just got cooked.”

He wasn’t the only target. Within hours of his disclosure, similar stories came in from across the crypto industry. CashAnvil, a Cardano constitutional delegate and agency CEO, described an almost identical approach with the fake Pierre, Teams link, the works, but caught the scam because the impersonator didn’t ask for a LinkedIn connection as the real Pierre would have.

Zac Zou, co-founder of DWF Labs, a major crypto market maker, revealed the scammer had booked a call with him that same week.

Alessia Baumgar, a VP at DWF Labs, shared screenshots of suspicious Telegram messages from the fake account, noting that when she asked if Pierre had been hacked, the conversation was deleted.

The numbers behind the trend

According to 2025 FBI data, total internet fraud losses reached a record $20.9 billion, with investment fraud being the costliest category at over $8.6 billion. The year marked the debut of AI-related reporting, with $893 million in losses tied to AI-enabled scams.

In the first quarter of 2026, the web3 sector saw around $465 million in losses, as reported by blockchain security firm Hacken. Phishing and social engineering remained the primary threats, accounting for $306 million, or roughly 66%, of the total quarterly damage.

Ties to state-affiliated actors

The security advisory group SEAL published a detailed report linking similar tactics to DPRK-affiliated threat actors, specifically a group called UNC1069, which has been running fake Microsoft Teams and Zoom calls targeting crypto figures. They released 164 indicators of compromise tied to these campaigns.

MetaMask’s Taylor Monahan previously issued an urgent set of guidelines for users who may have been exposed to a cyberattack, advising them to immediately disconnect their computer from the internet and shut it down.

She recommended using only mobile devices to transfer funds to secure storage, update passwords and access keys, and fully wipe compromised systems before returning them to service.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Vivian Nguyen. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.