Deepfaked Celebrities Hawked A Massive Trump Scam On Facebook And Youtube

Forbes

AI-generated videos of Tucker Carlson, Martin Luther King Jr., and former President Donald Trump begged viewers to help in the MAGA re-election effort. Then, the credit card charges came.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/emilybaker-white/2024/03/12/deepfaked-celebrities-hawked-a-massive-trump-scam-on-facebook-and-youtube/?sh=6ac04c5832a4  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00 Here's your Forbes Daily Briefing for Thursday, March 14.

00:05 Today on Forbes, deepfaked celebrities hawked a massive Trump scam on Facebook and YouTube.

00:13 The ad begins with a grainy but unmistakable video of Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.

00:18 Soft, tense piano music plays in the background as he speaks.

00:23 The fake, but seemingly real King says, "We've been told again and again that we cannot vote

00:29 for the man that did more for the black community than any other president.

00:32 If a black man dares speak out in support of Donald Trump, a Democrat is always there

00:36 to call that man an Uncle Tom, a House Negro, or even worse."

00:42 The fake King continues for more than two minutes, praising Trump and trashing Democrats

00:47 as photos and short videos of black prison inmates, Democratic politicians, and scenes

00:52 of civil unrest cycle in the background.

00:54 Then, the voice changes abruptly and implores viewers to take a free poll to support former

01:00 President Trump.

01:01 "Complete it, and they'll be sent a free Trump flag," it says.

01:04 "They'll need only cover shipping and handling."

01:08 It doesn't mention the $80 recurring credit card charges they'll incur after checking

01:13 out.

01:14 When the potential so-called customers click through to receive their free Trump flag,

01:18 they are routed through several intermediary websites to a final one that processes their

01:23 credit card information.

01:25 It explains, in very fine print, that by entering their card information, so-called customers

01:30 acknowledge that they will incur a recurring charge for membership in a MAGA-themed club.

01:36 When that charge comes through, it's almost always unexpected, according to three victims

01:40 Forbes spoke to and several dozen Facebook comments left by others.

01:45 It's also confusing, as it doesn't originate with the Trump flag site.

01:48 Instead, it comes from a website they never visited.

01:52 The FTC and Justice Department have referred to this practice as "credit card laundering"

01:57 and have pursued legal action against those who employ it.

02:01 Ads for the Trump flag scam have been viewed more than 100 million times on Facebook recently,

02:07 according to the company's ad library.

02:09 One page running them has spent $1,500,000 in the past four months alone, making it Meta's

02:15 fifth-largest political spender this cycle.

02:18 An account on YouTube has spent almost $800,000 to run nearly identical ads, which have been

02:23 viewed more than 85 million times.

02:26 It's unclear how many people were scammed or how much money they've collectively lost.

02:31 The ad spend and scale of the operation indicates an amount in the millions.

02:36 The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment, but there's no evidence that

02:40 Trump or his campaign has any relationship to the scam.

02:44 Fake King is not the only deepfake hawking this scheme.

02:48 Other ads from the pages have featured deepfakes of Tucker Carlson and Donald Trump himself.

02:53 The accounts behind the ads have also run hundreds of other non-political ads on Facebook

02:58 and YouTube in recent months, featuring the deepfaked voices of Taylor Swift, Joe Rogan,

03:03 Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and other celebrities, claiming that viewers can receive $6,400 in

03:09 free government subsidies if they simply call a number to enroll.

03:13 The free subsidy claims were debunked by Reuters' fact-checking unit in late 2023.

03:19 Facebook and YouTube took them down after a comment request from Forbes.

03:24 Scams targeting Trump supporters are common online.

03:28 Last year, scammers used deepfakes to con people into buying thousands of dollars worth

03:32 of "Trump bucks," Trump-themed bills that they falsely believed would be usable as legal

03:37 tender.

03:39 Just last month, Trump scams lured seniors into losing hundreds of thousands of dollars,

03:44 thinking they were investing in Trump-themed preloaded debit cards.

03:48 The problem has gotten bad enough that the Trump campaign rolled out an official so-called

03:52 "endorsement seal" to let people know which organizations and vendors are actually

03:56 affiliated with the former president.

03:59 A number of the free flag ads identified themselves as "official" and implied coordination

04:05 with the campaign.

04:07 So who's behind the free flag scam?

04:09 A Forbes investigation traced it through a tangled web of opaque and deceptive actors.

04:15 There are those marketing the scam, including an advertiser engaged in a runaround of Facebook

04:19 and YouTube's transparency systems.

04:22 There's the company that occasionally does ship out Trump flags, which has its fingerprints

04:26 on several hundred sham storefront websites.

04:29 And then there is a rat's nest of LLCs, facilitated by a company that pays people a monthly stipend

04:35 to establish shell corporations in their names, potentially ruining their credit in the process.

04:41 The pieces fit together in a way that minimizes each player's exposure to the other's misdeeds,

04:47 and helps them evade crackdowns from platforms, banks, and law enforcement.

04:53 For full coverage, check out Emily Baker White's piece on Forbes.com.

04:58 This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.

05:01 Thanks for tuning in.

05:02 [music]

Category

Transcript

Recommended