Deep fakes appear in Facebook scam | Notice - Seespotrun
If you’ve read anything in the news in 2023, you’ve probably heard about AI, or artificial intelligence. At its core, it is the science of creating machines that can think, reason, recognize patterns, judge, and make decisions like humans. One of the reasons we’ve heard so much about AI in 2023 is because Open AI, a software company, launched Chat GPT, a chatbot. Chat GPT is a language tool designed to answer questions and help you with tasks like writing emails, essays, writing computer code, movie scripts, and more.
The Impact of AI on Deep Fakes
One fear about AI is that it makes the ability to create “deep fakes,” or fake audio or video files, much easier and harder to detect. You can see how this could worry anyone wanting to prevent fraud. It turns out it’s a justified concern. A member of my own family lost $70 last week to a fake. Ben is very intelligent and develops software for a living. Ben received a friend request on Facebook from a real friend, Johnny. Ben then received a series of Facebook Messenger messages from Johnny. Johnny said he “got into a pickle in Japan” and needed $70 to get out of it. Now, Ben knew something of Johnny’s history, and “getting into trouble” was commonplace in Johnny’s life. So, Ben sent $70 via Cashapp.
But when Johnny asked for more money, something so funny tickled Ben about it. He looked closer at Johnny’s Facebook account and saw photographs and videos showing Ben in Japan. Something about these images seemed wrong. Because they were created by AI. They were deep fakes. Someone hacked Johnny’s Facebook account, sent him numerous friend requests, and created completely new content for the Facebook profile to support the story of the unrest in Japan.
Protecting Yourself from Scams
Facebook account takeovers like this are ridiculously common. Their goal, just like in Ben’s case, is to ask friends for money to deal with a serious emergency. The use of deeply fake videos and images has never been reported until now. Paraphrasing writer Ogden Nash: “Progress might have been a good thing once, but we’ve overdone it lately.” If you have a large enough circle of friends and social media contacts, it is inevitable that you will receive a fake request for money to help a friend in need. Resist the temptation to help. Do your best to verify the situation by contacting your friend outside of social media. If you can’t verify it, ignore it.
Contact Seniors vs. Crime
Let me know of any scams, frauds or other wrongdoings you encounter. Most of what I learn, I learn from you. Contact me at Seniors vs. Crime, Clinton County Sheriff’s Office, (563) 242-9211, Ext. 4433, or email me at [email protected].
