Deepfake Crypto Ad Featuring Trump Scams Illinois Family on Fox News YouTube Channel

An Illinois family's evening of watching the Northwestern Football Game on what they thought was the official Fox News YouTube channel took an unexpected turn when a cryptocurrency ad featuring Donald Trump appeared. The ad, which was allegedly a deepfake, claimed to be a 'smart contract' and 'immutable' and was accompanied by a QR code that led to a website promoting a cryptocurrency giveaway. However, the family quickly realized that the video was fake and that they had fallen victim to a scam.

Emily Miller, who was watching the game with her family, described her concern in a post on Instagram, writing, 'this is deeply, deeply disturbing. and I feel like it needs to be news? who can we tag????' She shared a clip of the ad, which showed Trump speaking in a steady tone, but lacking his usual mannerisms. The ad claimed that the cryptocurrency was 'audited by the finest American cybersecurity engineers' and 'verified by independent U.S-based blockchain forensic firms.'

However, the family's suspicions were raised when they noticed that the video was not moving and that Trump's behavior was not typical. They researched the ad online and discovered that it was a deepfake video of Trump being used to scam people into giving away their cryptocurrency. Emily noted that the ad was 'extremely odd' and 'went on for four minutes'. She also mentioned that her husband and oldest daughter quickly realized what was wrong with the video.

The incident has sparked concerns about the use of AI technology in scams and the potential for deepfakes to be used to manipulate people. Emily's post has already gained over 739K views, with many users commenting on their own experiences with suspicious ads and the dangers of deepfakes.