Johnny Depp is warning his fans about scammers posing as him and asking his fans for money.  According to Depp, “As part of their tactics they create multiple, deceptive social media and email accounts impersonating me and memers of my team.  Today, AI can create the illusion of my face and voice.  Scammers may look and sound jsut like the real me.  But, neither I, nor my team, will ask you for money or your personal information.”  Depp is one of many celebrities who scammers are impersonating and asking for money for a variety of reasons or endorsing fake products.  According to software security company McAfee, Scarlet Johannson is the most impersonated celebrity in these scams.

For years I have told you about scammers posing as various popular celebrities in ads and on social media luring people into making payments for worthless products or sending money under some other guise to the scammer posing as the celebrity.  However, with the increased of Artificial Intelligence these phony ads and scams have become both more believable looking and more frequent as  deepfake and other AI technology become readily available to less technologically savvy scammers.  Scammers pose as celebrities in a variety of scams including phony celebrity endorsed products, cryptocurrency investment scams and videos in which the scammers lure unsuspecting victims into downloading malware that can lead to identity theft.

TIPS

Trust me, you can’t trust anyone.  Always confirm any endorsement or connection between a celebrity and any product or program or request for payment.  Confirm on the celebrity’s website to see if they really do endorse a particular product or program.

While it can be difficult to do, you can also identify many deepfake videos in a number of ways.  One unusual thing that deepfakes often get wrong is how they show fingers.  Often deepfakes have a sixth finger or leave off a thumb. Teeth, eyes and ears may also be flawed in appearance.   Another flaw often that appears in deepfakes is accessories such as necklaces, earrings, scarves and even shirt buttons may appear warped.

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