A video of Justin Trudeau being edited by artificial intelligence in a scheme to defraud investors is currently going viral – further evidence that it's time for legislation, one specialist believes.
The video is likely to use the message the Prime Minister recorded on the occasion of Remembrance Day on November 11. If the photos are real, Justin Trudeau's words have been edited.
“I am Justin Trudeau, a partner at Royal Bank with a net worth of $200 million. I am currently hiring a team of people who will earn $2,000 a day. I will personally pay $100,000 compensation to anyone who does not earn $30,000 in 30 days,” the voice over says. He replaced the Prime Minister's voice very convincingly.
The link then invites you to enter your details to be contacted by an advisor who will offer a cryptocurrency investment, which actually turns out to be a scam.
Powerful tool
“As superfakes become more accessible and quality improves, we will see more and more of them [des arnaques de ce genre]», believes Achim Laniel Lanani, from the Cybercrime Clinic, a partner of the University of Montreal.
Fake online news articles using images of figures — including Justin Trudeau — have been appearing for some time, Mr. Laniel recalls. The link below goes to the scammers' website.
“This type of fraud already exists in a more persistent form. But I see similar content [à la vidéo truquée de Justin Trudeau] He has been referring to this since October.
According to him, companies that distribute these ads and generate revenue from them should be partly responsible for the consequences of fraud.
“in the UK, Internet safety law It was amended last fall to ensure broadcasters are held liable for fraud transmitted through their services. The UK found that we had unleashed these web giants, and that's what happened too Far west “Online,” explains Akeem Laniel Lanani.
“In my opinion, Canada should legislate in the same way so that the web giants limit access to this type of content,” he says.
Only one face
Especially since fraud is only one of the possibilities that superfakes allow.
“It is very worrying,” Mr Laniel Lanani said. “It has already been used to influence elections and the conscience of Canadians and to interfere.”
The Prime Minister's Office is also concerned about this type of fraud, but has not responded to the government's intentions to legislate in this area.
“We are seeing this phenomenon increasingly taking up space on platforms and that malicious accounts are spreading lies and misinformation. We are also seeing an increase in misinformation and fake accounts targeting elected officials. This is unacceptable and alarming.” […]. “We will continue to fight disinformation and the bad faith actors who exploit it,” Press Secretary Gina Ghassabeh wrote.
The video was streamed during a mobile app game. Fomo, the game's publisher, based in Turkey, appears to be taking the existence of these misleading ads seriously.
“Ads from different advertisers may appear in our games. We block advertising content in certain unwanted categories, but ads may be shown to different business circles. We track and block them manually,” Fomo wrote, asking for help finding the ad.
Report scammers
To avoid financial fraud, Mr. Laniel Lanani recommends contacting the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) before dealing with an online broker.
It also encourages people to report fraud attempts to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Center and to Fraud-alert.ca, the Cyber Criminology Clinic's community support tool.
“It does not have to be clear to everyone. We cannot distinguish right from wrong equally. There is a lot of work to be done to raise awareness and warn the population. He insists that any advertising on the Internet must be taken with extreme caution.
allowed
Tesler, the name used by the fraudulent company in the video featuring Justin Trudeau, is offering another highly targeted scam to Canadians on its website. This time he uses the interview Elon Musk gave last April with HBO's Bill Maher.
Akeem Laniel Lanani denounces the measures the web giants say they are taking to tackle online fraud which remain “vague”.
In the Meta Ad Library, which includes ads broadcast on Facebook, we see that Tesler has been using Justin Trudeau's image in scams since January 2022.
Mr. Laniel Lanani in particular found an excessive Tesler fake, this time featuring actor Jim Carrey, that has been circulating since January 10.
“Music guru. Incurable web practitioner. Thinker. Lifelong zombie junkie. Tv buff. Typical organizer. Evil beer scholar.”
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