My mum’s being scammed by AI deepfake of ‘Owen Wilson’ who paid her £7 to ‘prove’ his identity – would you fall for it?
A WOMAN is seeking help after noticing her mum fall for an AI deepfake scam of Owen Wilson.
The woman was sure it was easy to spot it was fake, but can you tell from watching the video above?
The unnamed woman took to Reddit, revealing both she and her sister had failed to convince her mum that the man she was chatting to was not the real actor.
According to her mum, she had met Owen while playing an online game of Yahtzee.
She decided to share the AI deepfake video her mum had been sent by ‘Owen Wilson’ with the title ‘Owen Wilson befriended my mother.’
The Reddit user said she tried to convince her mum that it was the work of artificial intelligence after finding a ‘plethora of red flags’, such as the man mainly contacting her mother via WhatsApp voice calls.
In the 10-second clip, the robotic image of a man resembling Owen Wilson seemed to speak directly to the poster’s mother.
“I’m making this video so you know I’m real,” said the ‘scam’ actor.
“I’d never do anything to hurt you. I respect you for your patience and understanding since we crossed paths. You’re an amazing woman.”
Some viewers were quick to point out that the video looked off, with the image never making eye contact.
Things had taken a weirder turn when he offered a ‘job’ with Warner Bros and paid her £7 for her work.
The daughter added: “He “got her a job” with Warner Bros where she can make $5000 a month but liking social media posts. The job has sent her a couple $10 payments through Cashapp for her first trainings.
“She says they’ll send her $1,000 through CashApp when she finishes training.”
The ‘fake’ Owen Wilson then proposed that the poster’s parents move into a new house he bought so that they could keep watch as ‘caretakers’ while he was away working.
Currently, the 56-year-old is in Australia filming his latest action thriller, Runner.
She added: “He’s now buying a house in our small coastal town & wants her AND MY DAD to live there & be caretakers when he’s not there. He had an actual realtor from this gated community call her to discuss their options.
“We believe this part because the realtor mentioned my sister in law’s mother’s uncommon name(we have no connection to her on social media) when my mother brought up my brother’s wedding reception being held in the neighborhood.”
How to protect yourself from scams
BY keeping these tips in mind, you can avoid getting caught up in a scam:
- Firstly, remember that if something seems too good to be true, it normally is.
- Check brands are “verified” on Facebook and Twitter pages – this means the company will have a blue tick on its profile.
- Look for grammatical and spelling errors; fraudsters are notoriously bad at writing proper English. If you receive a message from a “friend” informing you of a freebie, consider whether it’s written in your friend’s normal style.
- If you’re invited to click on a URL, hover over the link to see the address it will take you to – does it look genuine?
- To be on the really safe side, don’t click on unsolicited links in messages, even if they appear to come from a trusted contact.
- Be careful when opening email attachments too. Fraudsters are increasingly attaching files, usually PDFs or spreadsheets, which contain dangerous malware.
- If you receive a suspicious message then report it to the company, block the sender and delete it.
- If you think you’ve fallen for a scam, report it to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or use its online fraud reporting tool.
She concluded her post by asking fellow users for advice to prove to her mum it was a scam.
One person wrote: “Wow that’s scary, you can tell the tone is off and robotic. Face also looks slightly different than Owen but wow, that’s crazy for someone who wouldn’t know any better.”
Another commented: “Jesus Christ. What a frustrating situation. Be careful not to alienate her. It can make these situations more difficult.”
“Tell her to watch his nose lol,” penned a third.
Meanwhile, a fourth said: “This AI doesn’t even use the lady’s name at all, just generic “compliments” to keep the target complacent. Wonder how many targets they’ve sent this to that the celebrity “really” loves them. Don’t trust online, meet in real life and then judge based on that meeting.”
“It’s not Owen Wilson. As mentioned elsewhere, the voice is robotic and look at his face. He’s all over the place and he never called her by her name. Because the scammer had another 1000 victims to play,” claimed a fifth.
Someone else added: “This is wild! Gosh, keep looking out for her. It’s unfortunate how advanced these scams have gotten.”
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What are deepfakes?
Here’s what you need to know…
- Deepfakes use artificial intelligence and machine learning to produce face-swapped videos with barely any effort
- They can be used to create realistic videos that make celebrities appear as though they’re saying something they didn’t
- Deepfakes have also been used by sickos to make fake porn videos that feature the faces of celebrities or ex-lovers
- To create the videos, users first track down an XXX clip featuring a porn star that looks like an actress
- They then feed an app with hundreds – and sometimes thousands – of photos of the victim’s face
- A machine learning algorithm swaps out the faces frame-by-frame until it spits out a realistic, but fake, video
- To help other users create these videos, pervs upload “facesets”, which are huge computer folders filled with a celebrity’s face that can be easily fed through the “deepfakes” app