InvestigateTV+: How scammers use AI to imitate popular creators, sell fake products
(InvestigateTV) — Scammers hack videos on social media to create a convincing con.
InvestigateTV+ examines a scheme using AI to manipulate you out of your money and seeks solutions from the FBI and Congress.
Plus, we explore a program using faith and fun to break a vicious cycle of youth violence. Finally, a group conquers its fears without sugarcoating the journey.
TikTok Faux: How scammers use AI to imitate popular creators, sell fake products
An 84-year-old TikTok creator who built a following by sharing daily jokes has become the unwitting face of multiple online scams.
These scams use artificial intelligence to steal his likeness and voice to sell products under false charitable pretenses.
Charles Ray, who has amassed more than 15,000 followers and 150,000 likes in less than a year on TikTok, discovered scammers were using AI technology to create fake videos of him.
This youth program aims to keep teens on the right path when school is out for summer
Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Baton Rouge is part of an effort to keep teens on the right path while schools are out for summer.
The program gives them a place to meet with others away from crime and violence.
Vagabond Missions is a national program that aims to provide a safe, positive refuge for kids, organizers hope, keeping them coming back all year long.
Look before you swipe: How to spot card skimmers
According to a recent LendingTree survey, 29% of consumers suspect they have been victims of card skimming.
Matt Schultz, a credit analyst with LendingTree, explained that skimming occurs when scammers secretly install devices on payment terminals to capture data stored on the magnetic strips of credit or debit cards.
Card skimmers have been around for decades but Schultz said fraudsters are constantly coming up with new tactics.
“And it’s tough to deal with because you generally can’t tell that that device is on there and sometimes there will also be a little camera or maybe an overlay on the keypad on that terminal,” he explained. “That helps the bad guy capture your pin information too. And if that is done then that basically gives them free rein with that card information once they have it.”
The survey found that about 60% of skimming victims reported experiencing the scam at gas stations.
Scammers typically use stolen card information to make online purchases or produce counterfeit credit cards, allowing them to drain victims’ accounts.
‘Flailing Fossils’: Vermont seniors build strength, conquer fears on indoor climbing walls
A group of seniors in Vermont call themselves “Fossils,” but we just think they “rock.”
It may be hard to believe, but inside The Green Mountain Climbing Center in Rutland, there are fossils.
“The Flailing Fossils is what we call ourselves,” said Denis Coriell.
Actually, it’s a group of seniors looking upward, roped into a sport they can’t put down.
Seventy-three-year-old Denis Coriell has been climbing inside and outside for years. Her friend Pat Hunter is relatively new to the sport. The earliest climb was, well, far from uplifting.
“The first thing, how frightened I was, I got up that wall about halfway and froze, because I looked down and went, oh my God!” Hunter said.
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