Adverts promising a $6400 subsidy have been rising online, but experts have claimed they’re misleading and potentially even an outright scam.
Some of the adverts even feature AI deep fakes from recognizable figures like Joe Rogan and Joe Biden, advertising the subsidiary.
The adverts almost always offer a grant of $6,400 cash to help with medical expenses and living costs. More often than not though, the adverts actually result in a company attempting to sell you a health insurance plan or retrieving the information you give them, to then give on to other insurance companies.
- What is the ‘$6400 government subsidy’?
- The adverts appear to be a scam
- Companies are using deep fakes of celebrities in their adverts
What is the ‘$6400 government subsidy’?
The popular scam has been around online for years now but has boomed over the last year. Often, the ads run across YouTube, Facebook and Instagram but appear to be linked to various different companies.
Once clicked, the posts lead to private websites that are completely unrelated to public health programs, despite the ads often advertising money from the US government.
The adverts often target a specific demographic, claiming that certain age groups or yearly earners are eligible for a $6,400 subsidy.
The adverts appear to be a scam
John Breyault, vice president of public policy, telecommunications and fraud at the National Consumers League, discussed the posts with AFP earlier this year and described them to be “a deceptive advertisement for insurance of an outright scam. “
“If you click through to that website what you’re presented with is language that is fairly typical of what we call ‘government grant scams,'” he said.
Breyault told the publication that these advertisements will create a false sense of urgency to viewers but are used to generate leads for insurance agents to use.
One YouTuber attempted to follow through with one of these adverts in a video. Clicking through the post took him to a health insurance questionnaire, which he said allowed anyone to qualify no matter what they answered. Once filled out, however, it showed that by accepting, the terms and conditions, you agree to receive countless marketing emails and even robotic voice calls
Companies are using deep fakes of celebrities in their adverts
For those who have suspicions about the $6,400 offer, the approval of a celebrity might just convince them. That’s why some of these companies are beginning to feature known figures.
One advert online features deepfake footage of Joe Rogan and Andrew Tate discussing an apparent grant from the IRS. The video however contains clear indicators that the footage has been generated using AI to imitate the celebrities’ voices.
The post Online users warned about scam using celebrity deepfakes to offer free cash appeared first on HITC.
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