Barefoot Investor Scott Pape and ABC star Alan Kohler have issued warnings after scammers used artificial intelligence to impersonate them to scam Australians out of their hard-earned money.
The fake ads are designed to look like legitimate news articles and are often pushed heavily on social media, Pape said.
‘Scammers use AI to create fake news stories featuring well-known Australians (like me and Alan) supposedly revealing a “secret investment platform”.
‘The ads often look like an ABC article, complete with the logo and a fake interview on 7.30.’
Pape said the scams are designed to move quickly once a user clicks through.
‘Another reader this week told me she clicked one of these ads. Within seconds the phone rang. A friendly voice congratulated her for “getting in early” and asked for just $400 to start.
‘Thankfully her husband overheard the conversation and said the magic words: “Hang on… is this a scam?”
‘She hung up. Good move. Because if you hand over those details, the scammers won’t just take $400. They’ll take everything they can.’
Barefoot Investor Scott Pape has issued a warning after scammers used artificial intelligence to impersonate him and ABC finance commentator Alan Kohler in fake news stories promoting bogus investment schemes. Pictured: The real Alan Kohler
The webpage has copied the style of the ABC website to entice readers into investing in a scam
The webpage has copied the style of the ABC website to entice readers into investing in a scam
Pape said he has no involvement in any such platforms.
‘For the record, I do not run secret crypto trading platforms. Neither does Alan Kohler.’
He urged Australians to ignore any ads making those claims.
‘And if you ever see an ad online claiming we do, there’s only one thing you should do – don’t click.’
Kohler has previously warned about the fake interviews.
‘Someone sent me a link to an online article describing a flaming confrontation between me and the CEO of the Commonwealth Bank, Matt Comyn, on the set of 7.30,’ he said in February.
‘The story was 2,000 words long, very detailed, and had pictures of Comyn and me arguing in front of 7.30 host Sarah Ferguson, before Matt throws away his microphone and storms off.
‘Not a word nor a photo of it was true. It was an AI fake. I won’t link to it because it would draw more attention to it – the article was convincing, and many people have since written to me asking whether it is true.’
Discover more from PressNewsAgency
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.