How ‘deepfake Elon Musk’ became the Internet’s biggest scammer

Digital scams are as old as the Internet itself. But the new-wave deepfakes featuring Musk emerged last year after sophisticated AI tools were released to the public, allowing anyone to clone celebrity voices or manipulate videos with eerie accuracy. — Reuters

All Steve Beauchamp wanted was money for his family. And he thought Elon Musk could help. Beauchamp, an 82-year-old retiree, saw a video late last year of Musk endorsing a radical investment opportunity that promised rapid returns.

He contacted the company behind the pitch and opened an account for US$248. Through a series of transactions over several weeks, Beauchamp drained his retirement account, ultimately investing more than US$690,000. Then the money vanished – lost to digital scammers on the forefront of a new criminal enterprise powered by artificial intelligence.