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An elderly couple were duped by an AI-generated video, driving three hours in hopes of visiting a fake tourist spot.
The couple, from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, saw a video promoting ‘Kuak Skyride’, a fake cable automobile ride with nearby restaurants.
The video showed what seemed to be a female journalist interviewing attendees and boasting concerning the latest attraction.
But not all was because it seemed.
Your entire thing was created with AI, and the couple weren’t made aware of that until they arrived at a hotel in Perak and asked staff about it.
After hearing that no such place existed, the infuriated woman threatened to sue the journalist within the video, before being told she was also not real.
A hotel staff member posted concerning the couple’s experience on social media to warn other families to not fall for the hoax.
The fake attraction was advertised on the TV channel ‘TV Rakyat’, which also doesn’t exist, showing beautiful scenes within the forest.
The elderly woman reportedly asked the hotel staff: ‘Why do they do that to people?’
They weren’t the one ones to fall for the fake video. One other person claimed their parents paid around £2,000 to rent a van and drive to the attraction before realising it wasn’t real.
It’s the most recent trick using AI to scam unwitting people into going places and spending money after they shouldn’t.
Earlier this yr, Martin Lewis issued a warning after some families lost money in a scheme which used his likeness to trick them out of £76,000.
Des Healey, a kitchen fitter from Brighton, was tricked into handing over his life savings to a bogus bitcoin investment scheme that did probably not exist.
He first became aware of the scam in August 2023, after spotting a fake ad on Facebook which used an AI-generated video of Martin Lewis who seemed to be endorsing an investment scheme by Elon Musk.
Sharing his story on Good Morning Britain, Des explained how he had been tricked by the fake video. ‘For those who take heed to the voice and take a look at how the mouth moves, that normally gives it away.‘
‘But on the time, obviously, I wasn’t studying that. I just got Martin Lewis saying that normally he doesn’t cover these [investments] but this time, that is such a great thing.’
He added: ‘Now I feel how silly I used to be, how blind I used to be. You realize, I’m normally the form of one who would tell other those who doesn’t sound correct, but these people… Someone once described it as being under their spell, and I feel that was probably one of the best term that he could have possibly said. I knew, in a way, something wasn’t right, but I hoped that it was okay.’
Responding to the story, Martin Lewis said Des was ‘brave and admirable’ for speaking out and telling his story as ‘a warning flag’ for others.
‘I’ve spent my entire profession attempting to help consumers, and these criminals, thieves, organised crime people have perverted my repute,’ he told Des on his BBC Sounds podcast.
He said scammers are ‘psychologically adept at manipulating us, use huge online and mental resources so as to steal our money… falling for scams doesn’t make you a mug – it makes you a victim, but it surely doesn’t make you a mug’.
Get in contact with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
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