Is Taylor Swift Selling Pots And Pans Now? Fans Scammed By Fake Ad
Taylor Swift's fans have been scammed by advertisements featuring a deepfake version of the pop superstar endorsing a fake Le Creuset cookware giveaway, according to a report.
The New York Times reported that scammers utilized artificial intelligence to create a fabricated version of Swift's voice and combined it with deepfake video to produce a convincing ad.
In the fake ad, an AI-generated Swift claimed to be giving away free cookware sets from the luxury cookware brand due to a supposed packaging error.
The video, which appeared on platforms such as Facebook and TikTok, showed the likeness of the "Anti-Hero" hitmaker alongside Le Creuset Dutch ovens, whose prices range from $180 to $750.
Fans were prompted to click a button, answer questions and pay a "small shipping fee of $9.96" for the cookware.
However, participants who provided personal information faced hidden monthly charges and never received the promised items, according to the newspaper.
While she has never officially endorsed the brand, Swift is known to be a fan of Le Creuset and owns its Round Dutch Oven, Demi Teakettle and Cast Iron Skillet, among others.
Her cookware collection was previously shown in a Netflix documentary and highlighted by Le Creuset on its Facebook page.
Le Creuset said in a statement to the Times that it has no partnership with Swift. The company also urged customers to buy its products through official channels.
Swift has not publicly addressed the fake ad.
The perpetrators behind the scam remain unidentified.
Computer science professor Dr. Siwei Lyu told the Times that access to tools such as text-to-speech services has made it easier for scammers to create convincing deepfake videos.
Other celebrities like Joanna Gaines, Lainey Wilson and Ree Drummond were also reportedly affected by the scheme.
Similar incidents involving AI-generated ads using celebrities' likenesses to promote products without their permission have occurred in the past, with Tom Hanks and Gayle King being victims.
Last year, the Oscar winner took to Instagram to tell fans that an ad appearing to show him promoting a dental plan was fake.
"BEWARE!! There's a video out there promoting some dental plan with an AI version of me. I have nothing to do with it," Hanks captioned a photo of the AI version of himself.
Variety reported that Scarlett Johansson took legal action against an AI image-generating app called Lisa AI: 90s Yearbook & Avatar after it allegedly used her likeness for a fake ad.