In a bid to fight rampant scamming on its social media platforms, Facebook and Instagram, Meta today announced new tools to help detect fake images of celebrities.
The tool will use artificial intelligence to scan advertisements featuring public figures, and cross reference the images with the person’s official profile. If an image is found to be fake, the ad will be blocked, Meta said in a statement.Â
The technology is set to be be launched in the U.K., European Union and South Korea. It has already been tested in other parts of the world.
“In the coming weeks, public figures in the U.K. and E.U. will see in-app notifications that they can now enable enhanced protection against celeb bait using facial recognition technology,” the company said.
Meta’s announcement came the same day that OCCRP and dozens of media partners from around the world published the first stories in the Scam Empire investigation.
The investigation reveals a network of skilled fraudsters who lure victims into handing over their life savings for imaginary investments, often using fake celebrity endorsements and deploying the latest technological buzzwords.
Employees at two groups of call centers, based in Israel, Eastern Europe, and the country of Georgia, convinced at least 32,000 people across the world to make “investments” totalling at least $275 million, reporters found.
Along with celebrities, fake ads often use sham images of trusted media outlets such as Le Monde, the French newspaper that partnered with OCCRP in the investigation.
Last year, Le Monde filed a legal complaint for violations including digital identity theft, and deceptive commercial practices. Scammers posted fake news using the newspaper’s image to Facebook or sponsored links on Google.Â
People who clicked on a post would be redirected to a fake Le Monde website featuring celebrities supposedly endorsing fraudulent investments.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), another Scam Empire partner, recently published a separate investigation into a similar scheme. The perpetrators posted fake CBC stories to X, which purported to show Canadian politicians promoting a digital trading scheme. Â
With its new tool, Meta said it aims to combat such scams.
Its new facial recognition tool will also allow Facebook and Instagram users to use a “video selfie” to regain access to their accounts when they’ve been locked out. The video of the person's face will be analyzed and compared to the user’s profile
Without using the new option, people who lose access to their accounts must provide copies of identification documents to Meta and then wait to be validated.
Meta said the video selfie “provides a faster and easier way to verify your identity,” adding that it would delete “people’s facial data when it is no longer needed.”
