STOP! DO NOT GIVE THEM YOUR MONEY!

Cybercriminals love AI. A new deepfake scam is spreading on social media. Many people have lost millions to it. Here are the details to help you avoid becoming a victim.

I HATE TO BREAK IT TO YOU…IT’S NOT ELON.

The tactic is called Nomani (yeah, that’s “no money”) and combines AI video, malicious ads on social media and email phishing. It started spiking May 2024 and grew 335% by the second half of the year. From May to November, ESET Cybersecurity says they blocked about 100 new scam URLs a day, adding up to 8,500 sites.

The video features a celebrity or politician (think Elon Musk, etc.) promoting a cryptocurrency investment on social media platforms like YouTube or Facebook. These videos may look like news segments or exclusive interviews and often involve a recognizable figure. The accounts sharing this content usually have many followers and use eye-catching graphics to attract viewers, claiming huge profits with no risk. If you click on their websites, you might just be sharing your information with a scam artist. In the worst case, the site could contain malware that steals your money or personal information.

IT GETS NASTIER…

Most of these tricks end with an “investment manager” calling to walk you through the process of transferring all your hard-earned money right to them. They pretend they’re helping you put it into a crypto investment account. Nope.

If you’ve already fallen for Nomani, you’re at even more risk. Scammers are going after victims a second time, pretending to be law enforcement trying to help recover your lost funds. Just awful.

KNOW THE RED FLAGS

Even if you think, “This could never happen to me,” read this list and store these tidbits away. They could save you someday.

• Hey, that’s blurry: Deepfake videos are often in low resolution to hide glitches. If your internet connection is just fine and other videos are clear, move on.

• What if the video quality is OK? Look for strange speech patterns, unnatural breathing, poorly synced audio and video, jerky body movements, and robotic-sounding dialogue.

• Don’t click: They want to get you off social media and over to their website to plant malware. Solid antivirus software can spy malware tricks you can’t.

• High pressure: If an ad says you can double your money by doing nothing, your scam radar should be going off!! No legitimate investment opportunity is urgent. When they pull out the pressure tactics, move on.

No matter the form, get-rich-quick schemes end one way: With less money and more regret than you started with. You have to be smart!