Treasurer Jim Chalmers, Nine News anchor Peter Overton and former Reserve Bank of Australia governor Philip Lowe are the latest subjects for online scammers using artificial intelligence to target Australians.
A Facebook video (archived here) claims to be a real Nine News report on the treasurer and the former RBA governor unveiling an investment platform.
This is false. The footage is an AI-manipulated version of a real news report featuring Mr Overton, Mr Lowe and Dr Chalmers on a different subject.
The post includes a purported link to the Nine News website, but clicking on it loads a completely different, suspicious site.
The Facebook video opens with Mr Overton’s speech being edited to say: “It’s easy now to start with $250 and consistently make $30,000 every month. You’ll be shocked. Now it’s real.
“The head of the central bank and the manager of the Australian stock exchange have joined together and created a financial platform that trades automatically without human intervention.”
The altered video then cuts to Mr Lowe whose speech has also been changed to look like he’s announcing the new platform.
“After nine months of development and successful testing, we are proud to announce the launch of new financial program. It will help you increase your income to $32,000 per month,” the former RBA governor says.
The fake video uses real footage of Mr Lowe from a speech he gave on July 12, 2023.
His hand gestures and head movements from the 35-second mark match the edited video, but the audio has been changed in the latter.
The scam video then shows Dr Chalmers spruiking the “new platform”, describing it as the “outcome of combining the brightest minds in the financial industry and the latest technologies.”
“With the program integrated into the exchanges operations our capitalisation skyrocketed by a historic five billion in just one month,” he says.
Again, the scam video footage is a manipulated version of Dr Chalmers’ recent keynote address at the Economic and Social Outlook Conference.
The background and his distinct tie are the same in both videos, but the audio does not match.
The scam video exhibits some of the red flags previously mentioned to AAP FactCheck by an AI expert, particularly Dr Chalmers’ mouth movements not matching his speech.
AAP FactCheck has debunked several Facebook videos promoting false money-making schemes (see here, here, and here).
HOW TO SPOT A DEEPFAKE ON FACEBOOK – THE RED FLAGS
Treat posts appearing to show well-known figures and celebrities promoting new products with caution if they include more than one of the following features:
* The people speak with unusual pauses, stilted speech patterns or inconsistent accents.
* Their mouth movements aren’t in time with their speech, or their facial expressions and movements don’t match their speech tone.
* The videos are low-resolution or stutter.
* The source and/or context of the video is unclear.
The Verdict
The claim that Treasurer Jim Chalmers and former governor of the Reserve Bank Philip Lowe have promoted a new investment platform is false.
Genuine clips of Dr Chalmers and Mr Lowe have been manipulated with the assistance of AI technology to make it appear as if they spruiked the scheme.
False — The claim is inaccurate.
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