Scammers began to use Justin Trudeau's deepfake to promote cryptosystems
Cryptocurrency scammers began to pose as the Prime Minister of Canada in order to deceive people with a low level of technical literacy into taking over the assets.
Videos are proliferating on Facebook where unknown people are trying to use the appearance of Justin Trudeau to promote fraudulent cryptocurrency projects. For the deepfake, fragments of an interview that the politician gave to the CBC television channel in 2023 were taken. The fraudulent advertisement uses a voice generated by artificial intelligence (AI), and as a result, the fake Trudeau (in reality a native of Ottawa) speaks with a strong Australian accent. The scammers advertise a kind of government investment program that is available only to Canadian citizens. Only a limited number of people can take part, the scammers convince, you should hurry up and follow the instructions of unknown people.
Associate professor at McGill University in Canada, Angus Bridgman, believes that such schemes may seem meaningless to experienced users, but the implausibility of the voice is more a feature than a mistake. The scientist believes that the low quality of the video filters out critically minded people, leaving the target audience of scammers involved: gullible and inexperienced users who are ready to invest money in a scheme that seems plausible. It seems that the videos are aimed at the elderly, who most often become victims of telephone fraud and identity theft, says the associate professor:
"Fraudulent videos about cryptocurrencies should be realistic enough to attract someone, and so that the attracted people bring the matter to an end. Even if the somehow glued videos with Trudeau's image may end in the failure of the project for the authors, the government should take care to prevent the malicious use of technology."
