NSW Police are publicly warning not to fall for deepfake AI scams of celebrities and loved ones

NSW Police warned people in a public warning on their Facebook page on Wednesday not to “fall for the illusion” of the emerging trend of deepfake scams, which are being used to exploit vulnerable Australians.

“Beware of deepfake scams. Don’t fall for the illusion. Protect yourself and your loved ones against digital deception,” the police said.

Deepfake scams involve scammers who use deepfake technology, or AI, to manipulate existing videos and images, even altering voice clips or creating their own persuasive audio.

Scammers typically generate images or images of celebrities or politicians – or in some cases, someone’s loved ones – and use the fake funds to manipulate people into fraudulent investments.

At other times, they steal people’s personal information or banking information.

Hunter Valley resident Gary Meachen spoke about his experiences with said scammers, losing his $400,000 life savings to a sophisticated investment scheme plugged into Facebook.

Speaking to A Current Affair, Mr Meachen said the advert gave the impression that billionaire Elon Musk, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, former Prime Minister Julia Gillard and a host of media celebrities and presenters had backed the so-called scheme.

But the images of everyone in the ads all used deepfake technology.

‘You’d look at it three times a day, just to see how much money you were making. We thought we would make a million in two weeks,” Mr Meachen told the programme, but discovered he and his wife had lost money from their bank account after their investment.

Mr Meachen said he reported the scam to authorities.

In their warning, NSW Police urged people to pay attention to inconsistencies in videos – including unnatural expressions, a person’s emphasis on words, distortion around the hands, mismatched lip sync and “unusual” blinking.

“Protect yourself and your loved ones from digital deception,” their warning read.

How to prevent deepfake scams:

• Pay attention to inconsistencies: unnatural expressions, a person’s emphasis on words, distortion around the hands, mismatched lip sync, unusual blinking
• Create a family password or phrase so that you can ask the caller for the password if you are suspicious while on the phone or FaceTiming
• Ask a personal question, only they know
• Don’t be pressured into making quick decisions
• Investigate the legitimacy of investment firms
• Report a scam at scamwatch.gov.au

Originally published as ‘Don’t fall for the illusion’: NSW police issue dire warning amid new trend of deepfake AI scams sweeping the country