This Is Not Keanu: Inside Celebrity Impersonation Bitcoin Scam
Victims think they’re talking to Keanu Reeves. Or Kevin Costner. Then come the pleas for cash. The brazen AI-fueled con that fleeces lovestruck fans and has Hollywood finally fighting back.
“Online scams take many forms, but the ones weaponizing celebrity fandom are getting intense notice in Hollywood right now. With scammers aided by such rapidly evolving tools as AI, cryptocurrencies and messaging apps that make it easy to disseminate fakes and operate undetected, stars and talent agencies find themselves in an escalating game of Whac-A-Mole, hiring companies to scan the web for fakes and getting those accounts shut down. Some 400 performers, including Scarlett Johansson, Common and SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher, have signed on to support legislation making its way through Congress called the No Fakes Act, which seeks to create protections for artists’ voices, likenesses and images from unauthorized AI-generated deep fakes.”
“I would love to see a situation where these celebrities pressure Meta, and not just for their own images.... They should stand up and say, ‘Take our faces down. Don’t make us complicit in stealing money from people. But also, take down the faces of thousands of regular people who are also being used.’”
Read the full article in The Hollywood Reporter: This Is Not Keanu: Inside the Billion-Dollar Celebrity Impersonation Bitcoin Scam