Dick Smith criticises Facebook after scammers circulate deepfake video ad

Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAP

Australian businessman Dick Smith has urged people to stop buying anything from Facebook or Instagram after a deepfake video of him spruiking an investment opportunity was circulated by scammers online.

Smith posted a message on his personal website on Monday afternoon about the video, which was designed to appear like a segment on A Current Affair, featuring host Ally Langdon apparently interviewing him, Gina Rinehart and Andrew Forrest.

According to a screenshot posted by Smith, the video was headlined “The interview that shocked all of Australia!” and included the claim “Start with $350 and make $6700 every week! Zero tax.”

It also included a caption that said Rinehart, Forrest and Smith had “teamed up to unveil an innovative project that aims to improve the quality of life for every Australian. This team of billionaires have decided to take it a step further and they want you to partner with them too.”

Smith told the Australian, which first reported the video’s existence, that he thought it was a real video of him speaking that had been edited before realising “I’ve never said any of that stuff” and that it actually featured a deepfake.

A similar video has also been circulating featuring the treasurer, Jim Chalmers.

In the statement on his website, Smith said: “It is totally fraudulent. The scammers have made up the voice and lip synced to make it look genuine.

“Do not open it and do not send any money. It is a scam.”

He went on to say, in an accompanying video, that people should “simply never ever buy anything from any advertiser on Facebook or Instagram”.

“The greed is so great they run ads from criminal organisations,” Smith said.

Meta, the company that owns the platforms, did not directly respond to Smith’s criticisms.

The company relies primarily on automated technology to apply advertising standards to millions of ads that are run across its apps, but uses human reviewers to improve and train these systems, and in some cases, to manually review ads.

“Meta is constantly tackling scams through a combination of technology, such as new machine learning techniques and specially trained reviewers, to identify content and accounts that violate our policies,” a spokesperson said.

“We are currently also working across industries and with the government to identify new ways to stop scammers.

“We encourage people to use our in-app reporting tools when they see any suspicious activity. We encourage those who have fallen victim to scams to reach out to their local law enforcement agency.”

While somewhat more sophisticated, the fake A Current Affair segment is far from the only scam featuring prominent Australians.

The ACCC have both taken legal action against Meta in relation to scam ads.

In 2020, a Guardian investigation found that scam bitcoin ads trading off unauthorised images of Smith, Forrest and other celebrities were part of a highly organised global business that uses five addresses in the centre of Moscow.