According to Independent Australia, Meta allegedly profits from AI deepfake scams and fails to assist victims
Independent Australia reports that economist Stephen Koukoulas and other financial figures have been impersonated in AI deepfake videos promoting fraudulent share trading schemes on Meta platforms. Despite reports to Meta and ASIC, Meta allegedly refuses to remove the content or investigate the perpetrators, while victims reportedly lose money.
Independent Australia reports on AI deepfake scams, highlighting the case of economist Stephen Koukoulas, who discovered a deepfake video of himself marketing a share trading scheme. Koukoulas, identified by ASIC as the fourth most impersonated person on Facebook in Australia, began receiving messages from strangers, some asking how to recover money lost in the sham. Other financial community figures, including Saul Eslake, Alan Kohler, Tom Pitrowski, and Alan Oster, have reportedly suffered similar experiences. Koukoulas contacted Scamwatch and ASIC, who confirmed the increasing frequency and sophistication of such schemes. ASIC reportedly informed Meta that removing offending material from its platforms, particularly WhatsApp, was crucial. However, Meta allegedly refused to delete the fake content or use internal information to track down the criminals, a response reportedly consistent with other victims' experiences. The article suggests Meta benefits financially from these fraudulent accounts. The author advocates for regulations to compel platforms like Meta to remove fraudulent posts and reveal the identities of fraudsters.