PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — A social media scheme using artificial intelligence to trick people out of money has claimed victims in Palm Beach County.
David Scarola is a Palm Beach Gardens-based professional photographer who has been in the craft for 13 years. He uses social media to promote his photos, but was recently locked out of both his personal and professional Facebook accounts.
"My Facebook identity has been overtaken, it's invasive," Scarola said.
Scarola reached out to WPTV for help with a scheme that made his friends victims. The Facebook hackers used AI to pose as Scarola posting a fake ad on his page selling a car that does not exist.
"I have six people that I know who have given money," Scarola said.
He estimates his friends have lost a total of $4,500 from the post. One of the victims sent $800 to the hacker in hopes of buying the car for his teenage son.
Shawn Aubrey, a friend of Scarola's, spoke to WPTV about his experience with the hacker. The hacker messaged Aubrey on Facebook telling her that he's having trouble with the Facebook account and needs to send a code to three people.
Suspicious, Aubrey told who she thought was Scarola to call her through Facebook.
"He FaceTimed me, and it was him!" Aubrey said.
Unfortunately, it was too late when Aubrey realized the hacker used AI to portray Scarola's face. The next day, her Facebook was taken over by the hackers and were using the same fake ad.
"I did everything I thought was right," Aubrey said. "I questioned that it was even him in the first place."
WPTV did some digging and spoke with cybersecurity expert Dr. Mehran Basiratmand with Florida Atlantic University. Basiratmand said these types of schemes are rare, but not uncommon.
"Unfortunately, the tools are only going to get better," Basiratmand said. "(They) try to basically place a wide net to capture catch as many folks as they can, they play the numbers game."
Basiratmand said it only takes a minute of video of someone's face for the hackers to create an AI version of that person.
WPTV reporter Joel Lopez asked Basiratmand how to tell in this situation if it is an AI image or not.
"Asking something that clearly could warrant a reaction that AI otherwise would not be able to produce as easily," Basiratmand said.
Scarola contacted the police, who directed Scarola to contact Facebook.
"I've contacted police, they can't do anything, it's outside of their jurisdiction— social media hacking, the scams that are going on, people losing their money," Scarola said.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, social media accounted for the biggest source of fraud, accounting for $2.7 billion between January 2021 and June 2023.
WPTV reached out to Facebook for comment but has not heard back.
