Twitter Flooded With Deep Fake Ads Using Celebrities’ Images
Just to be clear here, the celebrities have nothing to do with this.
In one campaign, Canadian celebrity chef Mary Berg shows up in ads. The headlines scream ‘global scandal’. She is depicted in courtrooms, sometimes handcuffed behind her back, etc. Other headlines say her career is over.
What is the purpose? Apparently, trying to hook people on the sensationalism and then feed them ads for cryptocurrency scams. And, I guess, people fall for this?!
It you click on the links – and you are in Canada – you get a fake CTV web page with a fake by-line to a real CTV reporter. People in the U.S. get a different page since most of them will have no idea what CTV is.
The article features a fake interview of Berg and a CTV host. Real host. Fake interview.
In the end they want you to give them at least $335 to get some fake cryptocurrency.
While Twitter has suspended TWO – count them – TWO accounts running these ads, there are dozens and dozens more still running them.
My favorites have been the ads featuring Elon Musk on Twitter hawking water purification crap and electricity saving devices that you just plug into an outlet. You would think that they would at least take down fake ads featuring their owner, but, I guess, as long as they get paid – likely with a stolen credit card – they appear not to care.
Most of the stolen credit card charges will probably get reversed by the cardholder’s bank, so they don’t even get to keep the money.
Some of the accounts running the ads have blue checkmarks, indicating that the checkmark only means that you are willing to pay a few bucks a month and even scammers are willing to do that – and nothing more.
Twitter, of course, didn’t comment, but likely, at some point, they will have to deal with lawsuits.
In the meantime, I have several thoughts.
One is if you see an ad on any social media platform that seems bizzaro – like Elon hawking an electricity saving device for $8 – be skeptical. VERY skeptical.
Next, there is at least one bill working its way through Congress making unauthorized deep fakes illegal. I doubt, however, the social media companies will be liable. Except, probably, in Europe, so you might not see these ads there.
Finally, if you are someone who has a public persona, you might get deep faked and you probably want to have a plan about what to do if that happens to you. You may want to just ride it out or you may want to be more proactive. But having a plan is probably good if you are known enough to be a target.
At least THESE campaigns don’t feature pornographic pictures of the celebs. Maybe those are on adult TV. Credit: Motherboard by Vice
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