FENTON, LA (999 KTDY) – Artificial Intelligence (AI) is growing at such a fast pace that it can be difficult to tell what is real and what is fake. A family member may send you a video claiming that they are in need and want you to send them money. Fenton Police Sergeant Vernon O’Quinn told KLFY we need to be careful.
They call them deepfake videos. These are created by scammers using your family likeness and voice. They “say” they need money in the video and say they’ll explain everything another time. All fake, but very convincing.
O’Quinn said he received a message from his brother-in-law via Facebook asking for money. He knew it must be fake, so he called his brother-in-law, who told him that he didn’t need the money urgently, and that he didn’t make and send this video. I immediately confirmed that it was not.
phone scam
Sergeant O’Quinn wasn’t taken aback by this, but said he wanted to tell the story to warn others. These videos are compelling and if you’ve never heard of this scam before, it might send you money.
O’Quinn offers the following advice:
- Never send money or a gift card without making sure your loved one really needs it.
- Never send to people you don’t know or are unsure of.
- If someone scams you or tries to scam you, call the police.
- Never give your personal information to others.
O’Quinn says:
Social media opens the door to collecting all your personal information. Since there is a video on Facebook, an image is generated and an audio is also generated.
Yes, it is. Your voice, face, and videos are ubiquitous on social media and it helps scammers get a lot of your information to exploit against you.
A great community resource for learning about the latest scams operating in our area is the Better Business Bureau’s Scam Tracker. You can see what has been attempted and successful scams. You can also report information to let your neighbors know what’s going on in the area.
It is essential to pay attention to regular mail, emails, phone calls and text messages. Don’t click anything you don’t understand. Instead of following a link that installs malware on your device that can retrieve all your information, I suggest you stop and contact the company or individual yourself.
