Tom Hanks, Elon Musk and even the singer Taylor Swift, all these celebrities have been victims of artificial intelligence and the practice of deepfake. These videos featuring digital versions of these celebrities have one goal: to scam.
On social networks, so-called celebrity accounts sometimes appear in our private messages. At the risk of disappointing some, in the vast majority of cases these are scams.
The principle of this type of scam is simple: play on the adoration of certain fans and the affection we have for these celebrities. And suffice to say that it works. For example, a Spanish woman sent $170,000 to an account posing as Brad Pitt. This fake Brad Pitt claimed to have financial problems. Likewise, an American sent 10,000 dollars to a so-called Stranger Thing actor by believing he is having a love affair with the latter.
Although this type of scam can be successful for scammers, the means used are “only” text messages and still images. However, technological advancements are now giving these fake celebrities a voice and movement. Because yes, artificial intelligence is now capable of reproducing a voice and synchronizing it with lip movements.
Thus, for several weeks, Internet users have been able to see a video in which the singer Taylor Swift promotes kitchen utensils from the Le Creuset brand, while promising to offer products from this brand. Small problem: the American singer never made this ad, she was the victim of advances in artificial intelligence, and more precisely of deepfake.
This video featuring Taylor Swift is therefore a scam which redirects potential victims to a fake site presenting false articles. Once the various steps have been taken, the potential victim is asked to pay “shipping costs of $9.96”. Of course, no item will be sent and the victim ultimately risks seeing their bank account empty.
Furthermore, the execution of this scam seems to have been carefully thought out. For good reason, Taylor Swift actually uses Le Creuset utensils in everyday life, as evidenced by an article from Variety. Consequently, the (false) promotion of this brand by the singer is part of a certain logic which could mislead the targets of the scammers.
But this scam which mobilizes the image of Taylor Swift is far from being an isolated case. Last October, MrBeast, the YouTuber with 229 million subscribers, was also a victim of artificial intelligence. We could thus see a digital version of the YouTuber who announced “offering” iPhone 15 Pros for two dollars to 10,000 people. Here too, this scam is carefully thought out, MrBeast being known for his extraordinary projects and his donations of money to subscribers/strangers.
For his part, actor Tom Hanks found himself in an advertisement for dental insurance. The actor had to deny its account Instagram its presence in this ad: “ Attention ! A video was published, promoting dental mutual insurance, with a digital version of me created by artificial intelligence. I have nothing to do with it ».
We can also cite the case of Elon Musk, whose digital double of himself ended up in a cryptocurrency scam.
Last example: a false advertisement for a so-called gaming app mobile using images of YouTuber Squeezie and Anne-Claire Coudray, presenter of the TF1 television news. In this fake advertisement, we can hear a digital reproduction of Anne-Claire Coudray’s voice saying: “ Squeezie explained that he decided to create a gaming application because he always tries to help people and this application allows them to increase their income ».
This latest scam is particularly devious for two reasons. On the one hand, the fact of mobilizing the image of the TF1 television news brings a certain “credit” to the scam. If the TF1 newspaper talks about it, it’s because the application is reliable! On the other hand, Squeezie has already launched an application in the past and his activities as a video game player could be consistent with the launch of a mobile gaming application.
How to avoid this type of scam?
First of all, this type of scam often has imperfections. Pay attention to lip movements (lip-syncing), eye and mouth contours (bugs), and shadow play between foreground and background. Also look at the overall quality of the video and its resolution.
Then, it is essential to show reason. As we have seen, some of these scams follow a certain logic (Taylor Swift uses Le Creuset brand utensils, MrBeast carries out extraordinary projects, Squeezie launched an application in the past). However, one has to wonder if the celebrity in question would really make this type of video. Also look directly on the celebrity’s official accounts to see if they are communicating about the project. If this is not the case, be wary.
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2024-01-13 20:54:02
#Celebrities #Scam #Geeko