A doctored clip of Australian mining magnate and businessman Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest on Facebook represents the latest addition to a string of deepfakes of images of characters in deceptive ads, eroding trust in the media.
Cybersecurity firm Cybertrace reported a video by Forrest, which appears to be promoting a fake cryptocurrency trading platform.
Deep deception
The footage appeared on Facebook, encouraging viewers to sign up to a scam platform that claims to generate thousands of dollars a day for “ordinary individuals.” Targets are directed to a site called “Quantum AI,” which, according to Cybertrace, has gained notoriety as a hub for financial scams and scams.
The video changed Forrest's actions and behaviors from a “side chat” hosted by the Rhodes Trust in October 2023. Cybertrace identified a deepfake on Facebook on January 27, in which an AI-edited representation of the billionaire was filmed endorsing the fraudulent cryptocurrency trading platform.
Facebook and Instagram's parent company Meta implemented a ban on deepfakes in early 2020, however, manipulated clips continue to wreak havoc targeting unassuming users on social media platforms. However, Forrest criticized the social media giant for not doing enough to prevent scams.
The billionaire has criminal charges pending against Facebook over another cryptocurrency ad scam that allegedly exploited his image. Forrest said, expressing his frustration:
“Facebook is doing nothing – and that is what I hope the legal action I have initiated will address, to hold social media companies accountable for the negligent way they operate their advertising platforms. I began the legal action almost two years ago out of concern that innocent Australians were being defrauded on Facebook.
Deepfake scammers are on the rise
MicroStrategy founder, Michael Saylor, recently revealed that his team is working to remove about 80 fake videos every day, many of which are designed to endorse various Bitcoin scams. In addition, edited videos featuring well-known figures such as billionaire Elon Musk, founder of Tesla and SpaceX, have also appeared on various social media.
Some of these videos contain links to investment programs, unauthorized products, or unrelated e-commerce sites that disappear after a few days.
Deepfake videos generated by artificial intelligence (AI) are slowly emerging as one of the biggest security threats worldwide. Data from Sumsub indicated that the proportion of deepfakes in North America saw a significant increase from 2022 to the first quarter of 2023.
In the United States, the percentage increased from 0.2% to 2.6%, while in Canada it increased from 0.1% to 4.6%. Meanwhile, instances of print fraud, which accounted for 4% to 5% of total fraud in 2022, fell to 0% in the latest quarter.
“Anti-fraud and verification providers that do not continually update deepfake detection technologies are falling behind, putting businesses and users at risk. Updating deepfake detection technology is an essential part of effective modern verification and anti-fraud systems.
