Purported Unauthorized Deepfakes of Norman Swan and Others Circulated in Online Supplement Campaigns
Description
According to an ABC News (Australia) 7.30 report, a second wave of deepfake scam ads impersonating Norman Swan and other public figures circulated widely on Meta platforms in 2025, promoting unproven health supplements. The campaign featured new voice-cloned videos and more impersonation tactics, and it reportedly contributed to financial and health harms. Investigators reportedly linked the ads to businesses in Australia and New Zealand using deceptive redirects and alias branding.
Actors
Alleged Deployers
- unidentified-actors-linked-to-vellec-group-nz-ltd
- unidentified-actors-linked-to-healthy-life-choices-nz-ltd
- unidentified-actors-linked-to-apex-united-pty-ltd
Alleged Developers
- deepfake-technology-developers
- synthetic-audio-generation-technology-developers
Harmed Parties
- rebel-wilson
- public-trust-in-medical-guidance
- norman-swan
- jonathan-shaw
- general-public-of-australia
- australians-with-chronic-health-problems
- adele
Classification
Risk Domain
Malicious Actors & MisuseRisk Subdomain
4.3. Fraud, scams, and targeted manipulation
MIT Risk Profile
Source
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Research Papers on This Topic
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Regulating ChatGPT and other Large Generative AI Models
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