ROCKFORD (WREX) — The latest internet scam uses “Deepfake” technology to impersonate celebrities and business leaders to get people to buy into a get-rich-quick scheme.
“Seeing is no longer believing when it comes to what you may be viewing or hearing on the internet,” says Dennis Horton, director of the Rockford Regional Office of the Better Business Bureau.
“For impostor scams, the old rule was never to believe an endorsement unless you see the celebrity’s lips moving. Now that’s no longer a certainty, and consumers should elevate their awareness to be skeptical of this type of high-tech scam. As the technology improves and becomes easier to use, we’ll likely see scammers using Deepfakes to target individuals and small businesses, too.”
Fake ads and endorsements are very common on the internet, but now scammers with the proper technology can alter a message and make a video endorsement look real.
The proper technology is called “Deepfake.”
The system takes video clips and photos of a person to use the imagery to create new video and audio clips.
Deepfakes use artificial intelligence to create video or audio that seems real, mimicking the person’s face, voice, or both.
Often, this synthetic content is used to spread misinformation by impersonating politicians and celebrities.
Say you came across a video of Elon Musk while scrolling through…
