Straight Talk: Celebrity impersonations get more sophisticated with AI technology

Better Business Bureau serving Canton Region and Greater West Virginia offers tips and advice for consumers to avoid fraudulent practices.

To trick you, scammers need to earn your trust first. What better way than by posing as a popular celebrity? Recently, BBB.org/ScamTracker has received numerous reports involving products supposedly endorsed by well-known and trusted celebrities. With the rise in deepfake scams and ever-improving AI technology, these phony endorsements are more convincing than ever.

How the scam works

You see a post on social media of a celebrity endorsing a weight loss product, health supplement, or another product. In the post, photos show the celebrity using the product, or a video features their voice talking about the amazing results they have seen. It sounds too good to be true, but the photos and video look so real! The social media account will even appear to belong to the celebrity.

For example, one consumer reported ordering “Oprah Winfrey’s keto gummy bear supplements” after seeing a phony endorsement. They explained: “The ad showed Oprah’s face and featured her explaining the product and offering a first-time buyer discount of buy one bottle for $49 and get a second one free. I clicked on the link and put in my order. The next morning, I received an email stating my order had been processed for $198!” The report then goes on to say that the company denied the customer a refund and shipped the product anyway. Upon arrival, they found the gummies were from a company that had no affiliation with Oprah Winfrey.

Before you make a purchase, take a minute to reexamine the post and social media account. The photos and videos are most likely fake. If you make a purchase, you will lose money (often more than you expected) on a product that is substandard or does not exist.

How to avoid this scam

• Get familiar with deepfake technology. Scammers use deepfake technology to trick people. They take real video clips and photos of a person and use them to create new videos and audio clips. Deepfake images and videos can be surprisingly realistic.

• Understand how AI-generated images work. With AI image generators, you can type in a few words describing the image you want to be created, and the AI generates an image based on your text. It is valuable technology, but scammers can abuse it to create images to back up their stories, products, or outright lies. Do not assume a photo is proof that something is trustworthy.

• Know that scammers often impersonate celebrities. Do not assume celebrity posts, images, or videos are legitimate until you verify they came from an official source. Just because something is shared widely on social media does not mean it is real. Always do your due diligence before you purchase or reshare something you saw on social media.

• Only do business with companies you know and trust. If you want to purchase a product or donate, do so through a reputable business or non-profit. If you want to buy something from a company you are not familiar with, do plenty of research first. Look up the company name, website, and contact information. Read reviews on BBB.org and do a general search with the company’s name and the word “scam.” Do not skip this step, even if you are excited about the product. It is the best way to protect yourself from fraud and identity theft.

For more information – If you have been the victim of a scam, report it at BBB.org/ScamTracker. Your report can help others avoid falling victim to scams.

For BBB information – Visit BBB.org/canton or call 330-454-9401 to look up a business, file a complaint, write a customer review, read tips, find our events, follow us on social media, and more!

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Straight Talk: Celebrity impersonations get more sophisticated with AI technology