Online investment scams are on the rise globally: With the help of deepfake technology, criminals are now stealing the digital identities of famous people for their elaborate frauds. How can you avoid being scammed?
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00:00You can directly deposit any amount of Bitcoin, Ethereum or Dogecoin.
00:05Please pay no attention to this fake video of Elon Musk if it turns up in your feed.
00:10The US tech billionaire is probably the most famous person whose identity has been exploited by cyber criminals.
00:16Their goal? Tricking users with online investment scams.
00:20So how do these scams work and how can you avoid them?
00:24Here are three of the most common scams you need to recognise.
00:28First, clickbait articles like this one featuring famous Australian X-Men actor Hugh Jackman.
00:34These have been used for online scams for quite a while.
00:37They include links to supposedly legit trading platforms that promise big profits.
00:42The next one, hijacked celebrity accounts.
00:45Recently, the website and X account of US rapper 50 Cent were hacked at the same time.
00:51Criminals use the artist's identity to persuade fans and followers to invest in the cryptocurrency G-Unit.
00:58According to the rapper, the hack was very successful.
01:01And finally, deepfakes, which are realistic but fake audios or videos of real people.
01:07With AI deepfake technology evolving fast, criminals have found even more sophisticated ways to trick victims into spending and losing a lot of money.
01:16So how do AI scams work?
01:19Detailed instruction segment.
01:21There will be recently a YouTube live stream seemingly showed Elon Musk making an investment proposal.
01:27The fake Elon asked users to scan a QR code and transfer cryptocurrency.
01:32The video promised to double users' money.
01:34This is a rather common strategy.
01:36Criminals take existing material, in this case what looked like footage from a Tesla event, and alter it with the help of AI software.
01:44They can change what is being said in the video and also alter faces.
01:48The video played for several hours on YouTube on an account with more than 10,000 subscribers, which had been hacked before.
01:56The hackers had renamed it to Elon dot Tesla stream.
01:59It looked fairly legit.
02:01The video reached tens of thousands of people and even made it to the top of YouTube's live now recommendations, which is pretty wild.
02:10Here's another example featuring Mexican entrepreneur Carlos Slim.
02:14He's one of the world's richest men.
02:16And in this video, he's encouraging people to invest in a shady investment platform.
02:20This is the new oil profit platform.
02:23Apart from super celebrities, it's often economic experts whose identities are being exploited for AI investment scams.
02:30Two of them are UK money saving expert Martin Lewis and Indian economist Raghuram Rajan, former governor of the Reserve Bank of India.
02:38But there are many more, of course.
02:40So how do you avoid falling for these scams?
02:45Well, unfortunately, deep fake video and audio is getting more and more convincing.
02:50But if you look closely, you can sometimes spot tiny mistakes in fake videos such as these faces can appear a bit robotic or lifeless.
02:59And lips in particular can look blurry.
03:01This can be an indication of deep fake technology.
03:05When it comes to audio, lips are sometimes not completely in sync.
03:09This applies to the slim video.
03:11I take advantage of new opportunities.
03:14But also to the musk one, including how much cryptocurrency has been given away so far and how much is left.
03:20Now, let's take a closer look for any other mistakes here.
03:23There shouldn't be an S after Tesla in the title.
03:26This type of spelling mistake just wouldn't happen on an official Tesla website.
03:31In general, you should always be sceptical when coming across articles, posts or videos on social media where celebrities are endorsing financial products.
03:39The Insta profile pic of finance expert Martin Lewis says it all.
03:44So do your own research.
03:46Thoroughly check the authenticity of any investment app or website and never rely on unsolicited phone calls.
03:53Many schemes include fake operators that call you after you've shown interest in a fraudulent business opportunity.
03:59Apart from that, keep your private information to yourself.
04:03In many cases, criminals are also targeting sensitive data beyond just credit card details.
04:09And last but not least, just be aware that you can come across deep fakes almost anywhere these days.
04:14That doesn't just apply to videos.
04:17Audio deep fakes are becoming more common as well.
04:20Criminals can even clone the voice of a loved one and pretend they're in an emergency situation when they call you.
04:26Once they have you hooked, they can extort money from you.
04:29That's it from us. Keep your eyes peeled and see you next time.