Scammers in Australia are using deepfake photos and videos of celebrities to get increasingly creative ways to steal money from people.
Scammers are using fake news articles and deepfake videos to trick people into believing that celebrities are asking for large sums of money.
In one instance, scammers shared a fake photo of Robert Irwin, son of the late “Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irwin, in handcuffs, accompanied by a story headlined “Is this the end of his career? Robert Irwin didn’t know the cameras were still recording.”
The fake article told readers that banks were suing Irwin over comments he made about a cryptocurrency trading platform, and promised that investing $375 in the platform would make them rich.
“We urge Australians to take the time to do their research before taking on any investment opportunities, particularly those they see on social media,” ACCC deputy chair Catriona Lowe said in a statement.
The ACCC said ostentatious investment opportunities on fake online crypto trading platforms, particularly those claiming to use “artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies”, were an increasingly common scam tactic..
Lowe said at least one Australian man lost more than $50,000 in cryptocurrency after filling out an online form with his details from a deepfake interview with Elon Musk that he saw on social media.
The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission also warned last month about a fake cryptocurrency exchange that used a deepfake video of Elon Musk, which also claimed to use AI in its software.
According to the FTC, most scams in the US start on social media, with scammers trying to get victims to pay for Bitcoin investments to avoid their crimes being traced.
“Investment scams are one of the most common ways scammers trick people into buying cryptocurrency and sending them money,” the FTC said. “But scammers also use other tactics, such as impersonating businesses, government entities, or romantic interests.”
A “deepfake” uses AI to replace the likeness of a person in a video or audio clip, and one easy way to spot a deepfake is to perform a reverse image search to see the actual source of the image.
The best way to avoid crypto scams is to never trust anyone who only accepts cryptocurrency as payment or promises big returns on investment, the FTC said.
