A video of Justin Trudeau modified by artificial intelligence is currently circulating in a scheme to scam investors, further proof that the time has come to legislate, believes a specialist.
In all likelihood, the video uses the message recorded by the Prime Minister on the occasion of Remembrance Day on November 11. If the images are real, Justin Trudeau’s words have been modified.
“I am Justin Trudeau, a partner at the Royal Bank with a fortune of $200 million. I am currently recruiting a team of people who will earn $2000 per day. I will personally pay compensation of $100,000 to anyone who does not make $30,000 in 30 days,” says the voice that replaces that of the Prime Minister very convincingly.
The original video from Justin Trudeau, it is a message to veterans on the occasion of Remembrance Day, last November 11. The video was faked by scammers.
Screenshot taken from YouTube
A link then invites you to enter your details to be contacted by an advisor who will offer an investment in cryptocurrency, which in reality turns out to be fraud.
- Listen to Richard Martineau’s commentary via QUB :
Powerful tool
“With hyperfaking becoming more and more easily accessible and of better quality, we are going to see more and more of it [des arnaques de ce genre]», Believes Akim Laniel-Lanani, of the Cybercriminology Clinic, partner of the University of Montreal.
Mr. Laniel-Lanani recalls that fake online news articles using the images of personalities – including Justin Trudeau – have been appearing for some time. A link at the bottom goes to the scammers’ site.
“This type of fraud already existed in a more static form. But I see similar content [à la vidéo truquée de Justin Trudeau] since October,” he points out.
The scammers who modified Justin Trudeau’s video are presenting another hyper-faking intended for Canadians on their website. This time he uses an interview Elon Musk gave last April to HBO’s Bill Maher.
Screenshot taken from algorithmalley.xyz
According to him, the companies that distribute these advertisements and earn revenue from them should be partly responsible for the consequences of the fraud.
“In the United Kingdom, the Online safety act was amended last fall ensuring that broadcasters will be held responsible for the fraud that was conveyed by their services. The United Kingdom has found that we have given too much free rein to these web giants and this has made it too far west online,” explains Akim Laniel-Lanani.
“In my opinion, Canada should legislate in the same way so that web giants limit the reach and accessibility to this type of content,” he argues.
Only one of the facets
Especially since scams are only one of the possibilities that hyperfakes allow.
“It’s very worrying,” said Mr. Laniel-Lanani. It is already used to influence elections, the conscience of Canadians and to interfere.”
In his scams Tesler has used the image of Justin Trudeau since January 2022. This is taken from Meta, the parent company of Facebook. For several weeks, Tesler has now been producing hyperfakes.
Meta Ad Library
The Prime Minister’s office is also concerned about this type of scam, but has not responded to the government’s intentions to legislate in this area.
“We see that this phenomenon is taking up more and more space on platforms and that malicious accounts are spreading lies and disinformation. We are also seeing an increase in misleading information and falsified accounts targeting elected officials. This is unacceptable and worrying […]. We will continue to fight against disinformation and bad faith actors who take advantage of it,” wrote press secretary Jenna Ghassabeh.
The video was broadcast during a phone app game. Fomo, the game’s publisher, based in Turkey, appeared to take the presence of this misleading advertising seriously.
“Ads from different advertisers may appear in our games. We block advertising content in certain objectionable categories, but ads may be served to different work circles. We track and block them manually,” Fomo wrote, inviting help to find the ad.
Report scammers
To avoid financial fraud, Mr. Laniel-Lanani recommends contacting the AMF before doing business with an online broker.
It also encourages people to report attempted scams to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Center and to fraud-alert.ca, the Cybercriminology Clinic’s community support tool.
A Tesler hyperfake available in the Meta advertising library has shown actor Jim Carrey since January 10. The scam has him saying that he founded Tesler, in reality the company behind the scam.
Meta Ad Library
“It’s not necessarily obvious to everyone. We cannot discern truth from falsehood on an equal footing. There is a lot of work to be done to raise awareness and warn the population. Any advertising on the internet must be taken with great caution,” he insists.
Let it happen
Tesler, the name used by the fraudulent company in the video showing Justin Trudeau, presents another hyper-fake aimed at Canadians on its website. This time he uses an interview Elon Musk gave last April to HBO’s Bill Maher.
Akim Laniel-Lanani denounces the measures that web giants say they are taking to counter online fraud remain “opaque”.
A Tesler hyperfake available in the Meta advertising library has shown actor Jim Carrey since January 10. The scam has him saying that he founded Tesler, in reality the company behind the scam.
Meta Ad Library
In Meta’s ad library, which includes advertisements broadcast on Facebook, we see that Tesler has been using the image of Justin Trudeau in scams since January 2022.
Mr. Laniel-Lanani notably found a hyperfaking of Tesler, this time featuring the actor Jim Carrey, which has been circulating since January 10.