Atlanta FBI warns of new deep fake cyber scam with dozens of victims

ATLANTA — The Federal Bureau of Investigation has a warning about a new cyber scam. They say criminals are hijacking social media influencer accounts and live streams to rip people off.

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Austin Ennis, a cryptocurrency investor and health coach, always thought he could spot an online scam a mile away. A few weeks ago, he was watching a live stream of a news event on what he thought was a legitimate website.

Suddenly, Elon Musk showed up, promoting cryptocurrency and a great money-making offer. He said whoever deposited cryptocurrency at a site linked to a QR code would receive back twice the amount of the deposit in their crypto wallet.

“It seemed a very genuine message at the time,” said Ennis.

Ennis quickly transferred $4,000 in crypto to the site. But he didn’t get double back. He soon realized he had been conned out of his money. And, the Elon he made the pitch to wasn’t the real Elon, but an AI version.

“What they had done is taken an original video of Elon Musk doing an actual announcement and had deep faked his words and lips and matched to his body movements,” said Ennis.

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The Atlanta FBI says dozens of people across metro Atlanta and Georgia have fallen victim to the new cyber scam and lost tens of thousands of dollars. They say sophisticated cyber criminals hijack the social media accounts of influencers and live streamers.

“When these accounts are hijacked, the two types of things we see used by the criminals are cryptocurrency scams in particular, along with malicious software downloads that end up corrupting a victim’s computer,” said Atlanta FBI Special Agent Daniel Polk.

The FBI says people shouldn’t assume influencers and live streamers are in full control of what is posted.

“We encourage you to pay attention to any red flags, content that is out of the ordinary and misaligned with that influencer,” said Polk.

The FBI says social media influencers and creators should take steps to keep their accounts from getting hijacked. That includes using strong, unique passwords and multi-factor authentication.

Ennis says he’s speaking out to help others realize the growing sophistication of cybercriminals and their ability to make authentic-looking promotions, that are in fact scams.

“With the way things are changing, anyone at any age can be taken advantage of,” said Ennis.

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