Facebook has ramped up efforts to tackle celebrity deepfake scams in Australia after Australians lost $43 million to such schemes.
Meta introduced a Fraud Intelligence Reciprocal Exchange (FIRE) tool in the country to curb the rising financial losses caused by online scams that often feature fake images of public figures. This tool is a collaboration between Meta and Australian banks, designed to collect data on fraudulent activities and block scam content.
In its first six months, the FIRE tool led to the removal of 8,000 pages and shut down 9,000 celebrity scams on Facebook, the Guardian reported.
The surge in these scams coincides with the ongoing cryptocurrency boom. Criminals have exploited deepfake technology to create fake images of Australian celebrities like billionaire Gina Rinehart and TV personality Larry Emdur, promoting fraudulent investment schemes. In some cases, the scams adopted a conspiratorial tone, such as when a deepfake image of animal activist Robert Irwin in handcuffs circulated, suggesting hidden financial secrets that law enforcement was trying to suppress. This manipulative narrative was designed to lure victims into the schemes.
According to Scamwatch, a service of the Australian government, Australians reported losses of $43.3 million from social media scams between January and August 2023. Meanwhile, data from the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission revealed a 16.5% increase in social media scam losses over the past year, totaling $93.5 million. Meta funds and runs the FIRE initiative, which aims to help combat this issue by partnering with industry and government entities.
David Agranovich, Meta’s Policy Director for Global Threat Disruption, emphasized Meta’s responsibility to combat online scams. He noted that working with partners like the Australian Financial Crimes Exchange has been essential in identifying and taking down scam networks. However, Agranovich warned that scammers are always adapting. He stressed the importance of continued collaboration and information sharing to keep pace with evolving scam tactics.
Meta’s Agranovich said, via the Guardian:
“Scammers aren’t going to stop their activities. Once we’ve blocked them, they’ll look for new ways to come back, new ways to get around our defensive, which is why continued information sharing like this is so critical”.
