For years I have told you about scammers posing as various popular celebrities luring unsuspecting people into scams However, with the increased of Artificial Intelligence these imposter scams, generally perpetrated through emails, text messages and social media have become both more believable looking and more frequent as the deepfake and other AI technology becomes readily available to less technologically savvy scammers. Scammers pose as celebrities in a variety of scams including phony celebrity endorsed products, cryptocurrency investment scams, romance scams and videos in which the scammers lure unsuspecting victims into downloading malware that can lead to identity theft.
Last summer, AI was used to make a video in which it appeared that Jennifer Lopez was endorsing a skincare product. She was probably even more upset than most celebrities whose names and images are used in phony endorsements and scams because in the skincare product video, the scammers used AI to add fake wrinkles to her face.
Last year a scam group called the “Yahoo Boys” based in Nigeria began using artificial intelligence to change their facial features in Zoom videos to appear to be the person they are posing as in the romance scam. They also can use AI to change their voice and accent to sound legitimate and while doing a video conference with a romance scammer in the past was a good way to see if the person was actually who they claimed to be, now scammers using this technology will be very difficult to recognize as scammers.
Investment scams in which the scammers pose as celebrities, often Elon Musk often appear on social media either offering free cryptocurrencies or phony cryptocurrency investment opportunities.
TIPS
In regard to celebrity endorsements, you should never take them at face value. Confirm on the celebrity’s website to see if they really do endorse a particular product.
Dating sites Match, Tinder, Hinge and Plenty of Fish have a public awareness program to help people recognize romance scams. One tip they give is to use the verification check on your matches to help confirm they are the person who appears in the profile photo.
As for celebrity based romance scam, it is important to recognize that celebrities aren’t reaching out online to people they have never met to start romantic relationships.
Never invest in anything that you do not understand. No one should invest in cryptocurrencies unless they are knowledgeable about the investment. As for trading sites, you should always investigate any site you are considering before investing. See if the platform is registered with the SEC and licensed. You can also look for reviews of the site on cryptocurrency watchdog sites such as CoinMarketCap or CoinGecko. Also, check with the domain registry site https://www.whois.com/ to see who set up the particular site and how long it has been in existence.
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