In Australia, scammers are using deepfakes of the prime minister for investment scams
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has warned of a sharp rise in investment scams in which fraudsters use deepfakes of celebrities and politicians. Most often, they impersonated Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, according to The Guardian.
According to reports filed with Scamwatch, the National Anti-Fraud Center, Australians have lost $7.4 million in scams involving ten public figures most frequently impersonated by fraudsters. Albanese topped the list. In one of the videos, real footage of the prime minister was combined with fake audio in which he allegedly offers to invest $4,000 and earn $40,000 a month. The fake voice refers to the platform as “official” and supposedly guaranteed by the government.
Last fiscal year, ASIC investigated more than 19,400 cases of fraud—nearly three times as many as the previous year. The regulator reported that during this period, it removed 5,476 phishing links, 7,051 fake investment platforms, and 3,106 cryptocurrency scams. The number of removed phishing links increased nearly fourfold, fake investment platforms by 2.5 times, and cryptocurrency scams by nearly 30%.
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Among others whose identities were used in deepfakes, ASIC named economists Tom Piotrowski and Stephen Kouloulas, ABC financial journalist Alan Kohler, and politicians Jackie Lambi and Angus Taylor. ASIC Chair Sarah Court emphasized that high-quality content, a well-known brand, or convincing testimonials do not confirm the legitimacy of an investment. She advised checking website addresses and company or individual details, and to be wary of urgent calls to action.
ASIC recommends verifying licenses to provide financial services in Australia through the regulator’s professional registries, as scammers may misuse information from genuine licenses. A Commonwealth Bank study released earlier this year found that approximately nine out of ten Australians believe they can recognize AI-based scams, but in reality, they do so in less than half of the cases.
