AI deepfakes of celebrities used in investment scams | ABC NEWS
Scammers are using impersonations of celebrities, politicians and trusted public figures to promote fake investment schemes, with the corporate watchdog warning AI is making the practice increasingly common, sophisticated and harder to detect.
A report by the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) has highlighted a “sharp rise” in deepfake videos, in which scammers convince victims to put money into bogus investment platforms and websites.
ASIC says it has removed more than 19,000 scams in the past financial year, up 182% on the previous year.
The scams usually involve AI deepfakes of well-known finance or political personalities on social media, which take victims to fake news websites as “social proof” before funnelling people to dodgy investment websites.
Among the most impersonated faces in these scams were Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Opposition Leader Angus Taylor, billionaire Gina Rinehart, the late broadcaster John Laws, economist Stephen Koukoulas, Senator Pauline Hanson and the ABC’s own Alan Kohler.
Australians lost more than $2 billion to scams in 2025, with investment scams accounting for $837.7m according to the latest report from the National Anti-Scam Centre.
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