By Stefan Peter and Paul Ronzheimer
Thriller about the Governing Mayor! Franziska Giffey (44, SPD) was the victim of a so-called deep fake attack!
A video conference between Giffey and her colleague in Kiev, Vitali Klitschko (50), was planned for Friday evening. The conversation started at 5 p.m. – but the man on the other end was not the former boxing champion. With the help of artificial intelligence, Giffey was only fooled into talking to Klitschko!
The video conference had been agreed in advance by email. At the beginning of the conversation, Giffey was asked by “Klitschko” how many Ukrainian refugees Berlin had already taken in and how the financial support worked.
Berlin’s ruler Franziska Giffey (SPD) Photo: dpa
Vitali Klitschko, Mayor of Kyiv Photo: picture alliance / ASSOCIATED PR
► A little later, however, the conversation took an unexpected turn: “Klitschko” asked Giffey to send all Ukrainian men to Ukraine with the help of the police. Since one was very suspicious on the Berlin side. When “Klitschko” asked how Berlin was dealing with the fact that “so many Ukrainians are sneaking into social benefits”, it was finally clear: the mayor of Kiev is not sitting on the other side!
From the Rotes Rathaus it says: “We saw Vitali Klitschko on our screen, who talked like Vitali Klitschko, who laughed, who moved. We had no indication that it wasn’t Vitali Klitschko.”
Klitschko: Haven’t spoken to Giffey
Vitali Klitschko confirms: “I didn’t speak to the mayor of Berlin today.”
According to BILD information, there was a similar incident with the mayor of Madrid, where someone also posed as Vitali Klitschko.
So Giffey became a victim of Deep Fake: with the help of artificial intelligence, real video sequences can be changed in such a way that the person shown says things that they never said.
The conversation with the fake Klitschko lasted about half an hour. Giffey did not respond to the provocative questions, according to the Senate Chancellery. Nor did she reveal any secrets.
Immediately after the strange video conference, the Senate Chancellery notified the Ukrainian Embassy in Berlin. From there came the confirmation: Vitali Klitschko had no conversation with Giffey.
It is still unclear who is behind it. Was it the Russian secret service? Giffey: “Unfortunately, it is part of the reality that the war is being waged by all means – including online, in order to undermine trust with digital methods and to discredit Ukraine’s partners and allies.”
Interior expert Björn Jotzo (47, FDP) to the BZ: “The incident is to be taken very seriously! It shows that we need to be increasingly vigilant when it comes to video conferencing.”
