Deep fake crypto investment scams are circulating on Facebook, encouraging users to deposit money right into a fake trading platform guaranteed to make them hundreds.
The latest in a sequence of AI-assisted scams involves a fake article describing British TV personality Ben Fogle promoting a fake crypto platform on the TV program Good Morning Britain.
This got here to light through a member of the family who spotted the scam on Facebook and called me to ask about it.
They knew something was off, but there was some hesitancy. It didn’t appear to be a traditional scam.
I couldn’t find the unique content to research the presence of any AI-generated images, audio, or video. However, it seems that someone has posted a replica and pasted version of the scam on Medium here and here.
The Medium articles feature screenshotted images, but these don’t appear AI-generated.
A crypto scam involved a fake transcript of public figure Ben Fogle in a conversation with Good Morning Britain Presenters Susanna Reid and Ben Shephard.
This resembles a previous scam involving journalist and broadcaster Martin Lewis, which featured a deep fake video of Martin Lewis alongside a picture of Elon Musk.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was also targetted through tons of of deep fake scams, again primarily posted on Facebook.
In the Martin Lewis incident, Lewis’ digital avatar, a confirmed AI-generated video fake, spoke, “Elon Musk presented his latest project by which he has already invested greater than $3bn (£2.4bn). Musk’s latest project opens up great investment opportunities for British residents. No project has ever given such opportunities to residents of the country. Given the interesting features of the app and having seen how it really works, we expect it’s protected to say that the experience is legitimate.”
Lewis later appeared on the TV program “Good Morning Britain” to denounce the scam as fake, stating, “This is a deep fake. I mean they’ve put it together, we’re not quite sure of the precise tech. This goes around on Facebook in the meanwhile and this, so far as I do know, is the primary deepfake scam advert that we’ve seen.”
The deep fake roulette wheel
For those unfamiliar, Ben Fogle became well-known for winning Castaway 2000, a reality TV program that followed 36 people marooned on the Scottish island of Taransay for a yr.
The scam says:
“English author, actor, presenter, and comedian. Fogle has also been a public activist, Ben Fogle has made a reputation for himself as a brash straight-talker who doesn’t mind being honest about how he makes his money.”
“Last week, he appeared on The This Morning Show and announced a brand new “wealth loophole” which he says can transform anyone right into a millionaire inside 3–4 months. Fogle urged everyone in United Kingdom to leap into this amazing opportunity before the massive banks shut it down for good.”
One article continues with a fake transcript from a conversation with Good Morning Britain broadcasters Ben Shepherd and Susanna Reid:
“Ben Fogle: “Think about it. If a person can grow to be a millionaire in lower than two months, why keep working? Sure, everyone can use my method, but who would work in restaurants, stores, or factories if everyone were wealthy?”
Ben Shephard: “This sounds too good to be true. I even have all the time believed you to be honest and sincere, but I don’t imagine you.”
Ben Fogle : “Did you only call me a liar? Huh, I’ll prove it to you that any poor Brit could make hundreds of GBP kilos a day by just spending 10–20 minutes of free time a day. I’ll show you ways much I make doing so myself. Long story short, stocks have something to do with it, and everybody is getting wealthy on them at once.”
The Bank of England was also referenced within the scam:
“Soon after, the Bank of England called the studio. Their fear caused them to demand that the live broadcast be halted immediately. Taking advantage of Immediate Xgen AI would cause the banking system to lose customers. The only thing people would use their cards for could be withdrawals of their income from the platform. That isn’t profitable for any bank.”
The articles point to a cryptocurrency-themed landing page that requests users join, deposit money, and begin trading.
It says that after you join, it is best to expect a call from an ‘account manager’ who will confirm your account.
Evolving tactics for old motives
Fogle was targetted by someone pretending to be him earlier this yr, but he’s perhaps not a major candidate for an investing scam in comparison with finance journalist Martin Lewis.
This raises suspicions that fraudsters could be targeting quite a few public figures and pushing the content through targeted Facebook ads.
My member of the family had enjoyed Ben Fogle’s “New Lives within the Wild” program. Coincidence? Perhaps, but scammers usually tend to succeed by targeting specific interests, which Meta’s ad platform enables.
Previous studies of AI-powered fraud show how the technology enables fraudulent tactics on an immense scale.
It’s speculative, but there could also be quite a few iterations of those ultra-targeted scams lurking around social media platforms,
Martin Lewis had previously discussed how social media corporations aren’t doing enough to forestall scams. This involved a lawsuit with Facebook, which agreed to donate £3m to Citizens Advice and arrange a project to forestall scam adverts.
Lewis told Good Morning Britain, “We still have an absolute Wildwest on social media and other big tech promoting platforms that enables scammers to get away with impunity.”
With this newer Ben Fogle incident, it’s apparent that little has modified. It’s only a matter of what public figures will next pop up on the deep fake roulette wheel.
Education is essential in combating deep fakes and other types of AI-assisted scams. Conversations surrounding deep fakes within the media appear to be having some impact on public awareness, at the very least.
