Margrit Pritchard, an elderly woman with dementia, vanished without a trace in May 2018, leaving her family in California reeling with unanswered questions.

They didn’t realize at the time that her face would reappear five years later, over 3,000 miles away, in Florida, at the heart of an AI scam.

A Routine Zoom Call Exposed An AI Deepfake Attempt

Last week, representatives from Florida Title and Trust logged into what they thought was a routine Zoom call to verify the identity of a woman named Margaret McCartney, who was selling her property.

She was trying to sell a vacant plot of land in Hallandale, Florida.

Little did they know that they would stumble upon an audacious AI deepfake impersonation that played out before their eyes. Instead of meeting with Margaret McCartney, the person on the other side of the Zoom call used Margaret Pritchard’s face instead of hers.

The woman claimed to be the owner and seller of a vacant property in Hallandale Beach. But there were red flags from the start. For starters, Margaret McCartney supplied the company with a wonky-looking driver’s license from out of state.

Not convinced the license or the deal was real, the title company demanded proof of live video, but they started to get pushback from her.

“I’m hard of hearing,” Margaret said, “I can’t do that,” attempting everything she could to avoid the video call. That just made the title company even more suspicious they were dealing with a hoax.

But days later Margaret relented and the title company was surprised to get this email message that she was ready for a Zoom call to prove that she was real.

“Good morning”, the email message said. I am available now on Zoom.

But right away, something was off, and the sharp eyes of Lauren Albrecht, President of Florida Bank and Trust, noticed it.

“It shocked me to see a video that was clearly not a person,” said Lauren Albrecht, President of Florida Title and Trust.

You can see what Lauren saw in this video below. Clearly, “Margaret” was using a face-swapping app, as she was rigid and had no movement, even when when she was asked to raise her right hand and swear in.

Margaret likely used software like XpressionCamera, which allows a person to take a picture off the internet and then swap their face out on Zoom and other video calls.

This software and others like it are extremely popular with romance scammers like the Yahoo Boys out of Nigeria.

This Isn’t The First Time AI Has Been Used During Real Estate Closing

According to Broward County property appraiser Marty Kiar, this isn’t the first time closing agents have run across the use of deepfakes and AI to sell properties, fraudulently and he is warning all closing agents to be on alert.

“It’s just going to get more sophisticated, Broward County Property Appraiser Marty Kiar told the outlet, and added, “I wouldn’t be surprised if more people utilize this type of technology to fool many people in our community.”

Watch this video to see the whole story!