Le Creuset giveaway scam features deepfake of Taylor Swift

Deepfakes, or face-changing image technology, has created a new era of fraud. Last year, fake videos of celebrities like Tom Hanks and Mr. Beast were used to promote products they didn’t actually endorse. The latest scam is a fake Le Creuset cookware giveaway by deepfake Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez. New York Times and reports from others.

In the artificial-intelligence-generated videos, which run on Meta (which owns Facebook and Instagram) and TikTok, Swift’s appearance and voice are imitated to express her “excitement” about giving away free Le Creuset sets. There was also false advertising by Selena Gomez, who promised free cookware due to a warehouse error, according to online safety website MalwareTips.

The ads included links to websites that appeared to be from the Food Network and other legitimate news outlets, saying “free” Le Creuset merchandise required a one-time “small shipping fee of $9.96.” MalwareTips said that users who tried to claim the free package and entered their personal information did not receive any Le Creuset, but instead signed up for a monthly subscription fee of $89.95, plus a $9.96 “shipping fee.”

A Meta spokesperson told era These deceptive ads violate its policies, but are often missed by its moderation systems because creators hide their content. Meta has taken legal action against some of the perpetrators of these fraudulent ads. A TikTok spokesperson told era Creators must reveal whether the media is synthetic or manipulated, and advertisers must obtain consent for “any synthetic media containing public figures.”

Artificial intelligence has fooled us—and will continue to do so as technology advances. Here’s a rule of thumb: If a celebrity ad doesn’t appear on the celebrity or company’s social media accounts, it’s probably fake.