THE NEW YORK TIMES: An A.I.-powered version of Mr. Musk has appeared in thousands of inauthentic ads, contributing to billions in fraud.
All Steve Beauchamp wanted was money for his family. And he thought Elon Musk could help.
Mr. Beauchamp, an 82-year-old retiree, saw a video late last year of Mr. Musk endorsing a radical investment opportunity that promised rapid returns. He contacted the company behind the pitch and opened an account for $248. Through a series of transactions over several weeks, Mr. Beauchamp drained his retirement account, ultimately investing more than $690,000.
Then the money vanished — lost to digital scammers on the forefront of a new criminal enterprise powered by artificial intelligence.
The scammers had edited a genuine interview with Mr. Musk, replacing his voice with a replica using A.I. tools. The A.I. was sophisticated enough that it could alter minute mouth movements to match the new script they had written for the digital fake. To a casual viewer, the manipulation might have been imperceptible.
“I mean, the picture of him — it was him,” Mr. Beauchamp said about the video he saw of Mr. Musk. “Now, whether it was A.I. making him say the things that he was saying, I really don’t know. But as far as the picture, if somebody had said, ‘Pick him out of a lineup,’ that’s him.” » | Stuart A. Thompson | Wednesday, August 14, 2024
Showing posts with label scammers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label scammers. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 14, 2024
How One Man Lost $740,000 to Scammers Targeting His Retirement Savings
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Criminals on the internet are increasingly going after Americans over the age of 60 because they are viewed as having the largest piles of savings.
For nearly three months, Barry Heitin, a 76-year-old retired lawyer, thought he was part of a government investigation that felt like something out of the movies. He was actually assisting criminals in stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars — of his own money.
Last fall, he spent just about every weekday doing the legwork and making withdrawals from his bank accounts as part of an intricate scam: He believed he was helping the feds safeguard his money and catch thieves who were after it.
“They kept telling me, ‘This is a big case and we are going to stop a whole ring of people,’” Mr. Heitin said. “It was like a rabbit hole. I was going down the hole with them.”
It cost him almost all of his retirement savings: roughly $740,000.
Americans spend a lot of energy saving for retirement and worrying about losing money to the gyrations of the stock market. But these days, sophisticated criminals — on dating sites, on social media, in messaging apps or using malicious software — present an ever-growing risk to people and their savings. » | Tara Siegel Bernard | Tara Siegel Bernard spoke to people who’ve fallen victim to scams that target savings of Americans, particularly older adults. This article is the first in a series. | Monday, July 29, 2024
For nearly three months, Barry Heitin, a 76-year-old retired lawyer, thought he was part of a government investigation that felt like something out of the movies. He was actually assisting criminals in stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars — of his own money.
Last fall, he spent just about every weekday doing the legwork and making withdrawals from his bank accounts as part of an intricate scam: He believed he was helping the feds safeguard his money and catch thieves who were after it.
“They kept telling me, ‘This is a big case and we are going to stop a whole ring of people,’” Mr. Heitin said. “It was like a rabbit hole. I was going down the hole with them.”
It cost him almost all of his retirement savings: roughly $740,000.
Americans spend a lot of energy saving for retirement and worrying about losing money to the gyrations of the stock market. But these days, sophisticated criminals — on dating sites, on social media, in messaging apps or using malicious software — present an ever-growing risk to people and their savings. » | Tara Siegel Bernard | Tara Siegel Bernard spoke to people who’ve fallen victim to scams that target savings of Americans, particularly older adults. This article is the first in a series. | Monday, July 29, 2024
Monday, July 10, 2023
The Billion Dollar Scam - BBC World Service
Apr 13, 2023 | The billion-dollar scam: How companies used Premier League sponsorship to target unsuspecting football fans.
Investigative reporter Simona Weinglass leads a BBCEye investigation into a criminal network, believed to have scammed more than a billion dollars from victims across the globe.
The organisation sponsored a top-tier football club to promote its online trading platform, promising investors the chance of astonishing returns. But what lies behind the claims? The search – from a mansion in London, to a forest in Scandinavia and a call centre in Georgia – reveals a web of deceit. We hear from victims, undercover agents and police, in a bid to track down who’s in charge.
Investigative reporter Simona Weinglass leads a BBCEye investigation into a criminal network, believed to have scammed more than a billion dollars from victims across the globe.
The organisation sponsored a top-tier football club to promote its online trading platform, promising investors the chance of astonishing returns. But what lies behind the claims? The search – from a mansion in London, to a forest in Scandinavia and a call centre in Georgia – reveals a web of deceit. We hear from victims, undercover agents and police, in a bid to track down who’s in charge.
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