BRASILIA: A group of suspected scammers in Brazil used Instagram advertisements featuring deepfakes of supermodel Gisele Bundchen and other celebrities to make millions of dollars through online fraud.
Police investigators arrested four suspects tied to the scheme this week and froze assets across five states.
The investigation identified over 20 million reais, equivalent to $3.9 million, in suspicious funds flagged by the federal anti-money laundering organ COAF.
This operation represents one of the first major attempts in Brazil to counter the growing use of artificial intelligence tools to manipulate celebrity images and videos for online scams.
Brazil’s Supreme Court ruled in June that social media platforms can be held liable for criminal ads posted by users if they fail to act swiftly to remove the content.
Instagram owner Meta stated that its policies forbid ads that deceptively use public figures to scam people and that it removes such ads when detected.
The company added it has specialized systems to detect celeb-bait, invests heavily in trained review teams, and offers tools to report potential violations.
Bundchen did not respond to a request for comment but had previously warned followers about fake videos using her image to perpetrate scams.
The police probe announced this week in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul began in August 2024 after a victim reported being misled by an Instagram ad.
That ad showed an altered video of Bundchen promoting a skincare product.
Another advertisement used the supermodel’s likeness to promise a giveaway of suitcases, with buyers paying shipping fees for items that never arrived.
The criminal group also carried out a series of other scams involving deepfakes of other celebrities and false betting platforms.
Investigators are pursuing charges of money laundering and online fraud against the suspects.
They noted that most victims lost small amounts, usually under 100 reais or $19, and did not report the crimes.
This created a perverse situation where the criminals enjoyed a kind of statistical immunity by operating at scale without fear of being reported. – Reuters
