Prominent Australians are among those being misrepresented in “deepfake” online advertisements trying to scam people out of tens of thousands of dollars.
Altered images or videos of some of the nation’s richest people – among them Gina Rinehart, Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest, and Dick Smith – and popular television hosts are being used in online advertisements endorsing “investment” schemes that are responsible for stealing the life savings of hundreds of Australians, many of them elderly.
The scams, often said to involve cryptocurrencies, continue despite legal efforts taken by the billionaires and celebrities, who are not associated with, or even aware of, the advertisements.
Ms Rinehart told Nine Newspapers that there was no legal mechanism by which scam victims could retrieve funds lost to the scams that featured on Facebook, owned by Mark Zuckerberg’s company Meta.
“The Meta team appears to take its time in removing scams, meaning that some innocent people have been left to think that they are legitimate after seeing them online for weeks,” she said.
“It is tragic for people to lose their savings in this way because Meta is not willing to act responsibly and in a timely manner.”
In the absence of stronger global laws to protect against such scams, the individual’s best defence is vigilance.
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