Scammers using AI-generated videos of broadcast journalists to peddle products

For years, scammers have been doctoring clips of public figures to promote products on social media. But with the rise of AI-generated video, these schemes are increasingly using the likenesses of journalists — particularly broadcast journalists — to peddle their products. TV broadcasters are familiar, trusted faces who speak with authority from their anchor chairs. Crucially, the journalists’ faces are also featured in countless hours of easily accessible videos, looking straight into the camera. That footage is primed to be fed into tools that generate deepfakes, reports NiemanLab.

“With celebrities or other public figures, you may believe them for any number of reasons, but a journalist would base what they say on truth and facts,” said Pooja Shali, an anchor for India Today, considering why journalists – including Shali – are so often used for deepfakes that push commercial products. “That connection a viewer has with the journalist, especially TV news journalists, is what is being misused.”

Shali is far from the first journalist to have her credibility exploited by deepfake scammers, states NiemanLab. “Broadcast journalists have been dragged into similar frauds around the world, including in the U.K., Canada, Denmark, Russia, Peru, South Africa, and the Philippines. In the U.S., scams have targeted national news anchors including Al Roker and Gayle King. These videos promote a wide array of products, but frequently link to cryptocurrency cons, paywalled financial investment groups, gambling apps, and snake oil medicines.

“Broadcast journalism is one of the most accessible forms of media. People don’t read as much as they watch, whether it’s news on television or on their phones,” said Kiran Nazish, the founder and director of The Coalition for Women in Journalism (CFWIJ). “Because of the reach of broadcast journalists, there is a vulnerability there — they are targeted more often.”PHOTO: Real Gayle King