Social media giant Meta has had to remove an AI deepfake video of Fine Gael presidential candidate Heather Humphreys.
The video, which purported to show Ms Humphreys promoting a high-return investment scheme, was being used by fraudsters.
The content was entirely fabricated and made with AI-driven voice and image cloning technology.
Consumers have been warned to watch out for more of these types of adverts on social media platforms ahead of the presidential election in October.
The video started with a fake RTÉ news report giving details of “an easy way to earn €4,500 a week”, before switching to the deepfake of Ms Humphreys.
It featured her saying that this platform would “help Irish families achieve financial independence”.
A spokesperson for Ms Humphreys confirmed the matter had been reported to Meta.
“Unfortunately, there are people and entities that produce these fakes during elections. We would encourage voters in the weeks ahead to consider everything they see online carefully and check trusted news sources.”
The social media giant later confirmed it had been taken down.
Bank of Ireland has warned consumers not to be duped by these realistic looking scams.
“This is deeply concerning,” the bank’s head of fraud, Nicola Sadlier, said.
“We are witnessing an ongoing spate of scams that exploit public trust in well-known figures.
“These videos are highly convincing, and the designed to lure unsuspecting individuals into fraudulent schemes.
“I would urge the public to remain vigilant. There may be more of these in the coming weeks. If you see such content, do not engage.”
She added that the EU must confront a growing wave of scams online that are undermining public confidence.
“One critical step is holding social media platforms accountable,” Ms Sadlier said.
“Before financial services adverts go live, platforms should be required to verify that the advertiser is authorised by a recognised regulatory body. This simple check could block thousands of scam promotions from ever reaching the public.”
Earlier this month, a survey for Bank of Ireland found nearly three quarters of people here distrust adverts they see on social media platforms.
A similar percentage said they do not trust social media companies to protect users from fraud.
The research also suggested most people feel social media companies should not be allowed to generate revenue from fraudsters putting ads on their platforms (91%), and feel that companies that advertise financial services should have to prove the ads are genuine (90%).
There was a warning that a new spate of “pump and dump” investment fraud is spreading fast, mainly using WhatsApp. That scam sees fraudsters lure victims via fake social media ads to join an investment WhatsApp group.
The scammers pose as experts and dupe people with misleading information about particular companies and stocks.
Members buy the stock, the price is pumped up due to increased demand, and the scammers then sell their holdings at a profit and disappear.
Comments (0)