The fake ads are made to look like major Australian newspaper front pages, showing Mr. Irwin being arrested, arms pinned behind his back, and led away by police.
These images, created using artificial intelligence, are entirely fabricated to look authentic.
A recent one doing the rounds on Facebook is a completely phony Sydney Morning Herald front page with the attention grabbing headline: “Is this the end of his career? Robert Irwin didn’t know the camera was still recording.”
It links to a fake news article claiming that a bank is suing Mr. Irwin over comments he allegedly made on live TV.
The false article spins a completely fictitious tale involving an episode of The Cheap Seats. In this made-up incident, Mr. Irwin is said to have revealed a trading platform called Trade iPlex 100, which he supposedly claimed could make people rich through AI-driven cryptocurrency trading.
Readers are then asked to give Mr. Irwin $375 so he can supposedly make them money using cryptocurrency.
None of this is true. The incident, the platform, and the claims are all fabricated by scammers aiming to swindle your money. Mr. Irwin is not involved whatsoever.
The Australian government’s National Anti Scam Centre warns that scammers often use the images, names, and characteristics of famous people without permission to lure you into “investing” in cryptocurrency scams.
These scams can be very convincing, as scammers employ artificial intelligence to create “deepfakes” of the person, making the images and voices appear alarmingly real.
These fabricated images and stories frequently appear in ads on social media, YouTube, and fake news stories that seem to come from reputable news organizations.
Stay vigilant and don’t fall for these sophisticated scams designed to deceive you.
