A Dawson Creek senior is breathing a sigh of relief after being scammed out of $113,367.
RCMP said the man was a victim of a scam involving artificial intelligence. The man saw a video on Facebook featuring billionaire Elon Musk saying, that by following his instructions, he could get rich fast.
But police say the clip was A-I generated. It was created by criminals to get the 83-year-old man to invest.
The video was manipulated and Musk’s voice was altered, to appear as though he was promoting investment opportunities. Another video featured an A-I generated clip of Prime Minister Mark Carney.
The man clicked the link on the video and then called the associated phone number.
The person on the other end of the line, convinced the man to provide remote access to his computer.
Over the month of March, police say that 15 separate transactions were made in the man’s Scotia Bank account. There was another $2000 withdrawal from a BMO Visa card.
The fraudster then requested a 2 per cent fee for investment services. The senior became suspicious, when that fee rose to 11 per cent.
The victim then took his computer to be wiped clean and to remove the remote access.
Scotia Bank was then able reverse the $113,367 in transfers. However, the BMO was not able to reverse the $2000 credit card charge.
Police say the $2,000 was transferred to an account in Michigan and then to another account in Argentina.
Police say. “If something appears to good to be true, then it probably is.”
Police add that if you are new to investing, check with your financial institution first. They are urging the public to check references before sending any money.
There are many AI-generated cryptocurrency videos featuring former prime minister Justin Trudeau, current Prime Minister Mark Carney, as well as actors, celebrities and news anchors.
Criminals use AI-generated videos to make it appear as though someone is saying something they are not.
According to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, Canadians have lost $1.2 billion to investment scams in the past three years and that’s only what’s been reported -- it’s believed to be much higher.
Many cases involve people investing after seeing AI-generated scams.
-with files from CTV's W5
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