Alarming financial scam that Aussies need to know about

Question

2GB host Ben Fordham has warned Aussies about alarming new AI video scams.

The scams typically involve fake videos created using artificial intelligence. 

These videos can be manipulated to make it appear as though a person said or did something they never did. 

Finance expert Peter Switzer is the latest high-profile Australian to be used by scammers in an AI video.

His face is being used to trick people into investing in sham get-rich-quick schemes. 




2GB host Ben Fordham has warned Aussies about alarming new AI video scams

Mr Switzer was left speechless after 2GB host Ben Fordham played him video of the AI scam currently doing the rounds on social media.

'Join our stock club and you will receive free stock diagnostic services where the world's leading stock experts will provide you with...' he appears to say in the clip. 

'Who is that man talking?' Fordham asked. 

'Gee it sounds like me in my younger days,' Mr Switzer replied. 

'It's you, it's a video doing the rounds right now. It's an AI scam. You are promoting a stock club and they release stock information every day before 7pm,' Fordham said.

'Oh my God. How do we make sure people know it's not me?' Mr Switzer asked. 

Fordham said the tell-tale sign the video was fake came when Mr Switzer's accent turned from Australian to American halfway through the full version of the video. 

'So there's a little bit of a hint there,' Fordham said. 

'But people will recognise your face, they've got your face - your mouth is moving - we've just spotted it this morning.'




'Join our stock club and you will receive free stock diagnostic services where the world's leading stock experts will provide you with...' Peter Switzer appears to say in the clip (pictured)





Mr Switzer (pictured) was left speechless after Ben Fordham played the audio of a scam video currently doing the rounds on social media

It comes just months after former Sunrise host David Koch threatened legal action as scammers continue to use digitally-altered images of him to rip off Aussies.

The fed-up business journalist and former Sunrise host took to Twitter in October to slam an AI-generated photo of himself looked bloodied and bruised.

Koch tagged the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) in a desperate attempt to take down the latest scam. 

The digitally altered image shows Koch with two black eyes and a dismayed expression captioned: 'This is the dark truth behind the incident.'

He told 2GB's Ben Fordham that he's looking at legal options against social media platforms that publish the fake ads. 

'I'm so frustrated with this that I'm looking in the possibility of defamation against social media platforms that run these ads because it's damaging me,' he fumed. 

'People are getting hoodwinked into this thinking, "I've done this because you told me". It's all a massive scam using high profile people and really trashing our reputation in the process.' 




David Koch is calling for the ACCC to take action after a fake news article (pictured)

Gary Meachen, 71, from Broke in the NSW Hunter Valley, lost $411,000 after he was duped by a video on Facebook that promised viewers they would get rich quick.

The clip contained modified footage of billionaire Elon Musk supposedly discussing a cryptocurrency scheme with a suite of high-profile individuals.  

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Sunrise host Natalie Barr, Today host Karl Stefanovic and commentator Piers Morgan were among them.

Footage of the well-known political and entertainment identities was then manipulated to make it appear as if they were discussing the scheme.

Mr Meachen, a long-time admirer of Musk, was told he was one of '45 chosen ones who will get a chance to earn money that will change your life'.




A 71-year-old NSW man has revealed how he lost $411,000 in a Facebook scam that featured Elon Musk and Anthony Albanese (pictured) in a get rich quick scheme





Gary Meachen lost his entire life savings after being tricked by a video that featured billionaire Elon Musk discussing a cryptocurrency scheme with a suite of high-profile individuals

He provided his card details to a scammer to buy in, KetoXplode Bewertung and every time he tried to withdraw money he was persuaded to invest more.

Mr Meachen was eventually left with nothing and is now reliant on his pension. 

Australians lost $2.7billion to scams in 2023 with more than 623,000 reports about scams made in that year alone, according to the ACCC.

Investment scams stole more than any other scam, accounting for $1.3billion.

Experts believe older Australians are being targeted by scammers because they are less tech-savvy and are more likely to have savings and superannuation.

Losses for people over 65 increased by 13.3 per cent in 2023 to $120million, with this age group disproportionately impacted by investment schemes.



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AIBen FordhamDavid KochSunrise