Meta, a social network company with nearly 4 billion users, is testing how it can use facial recognition technology to combat fake celebrity scam ads that have been plaguing its platforms.
Meta said early testing with a small group of celebrities has shown âpromising resultsâ and that it will soon trial the facial recognition technology with 50,000 celebrities and public figures âin the coming weeks.â
Meta said the system compares images in the ad against the celebrityâs Facebook and Instagram profile pictures to spot scams. âIf we confirm a match and determine the ad is a scam, weâll block it,â the company stressed in an Oct. 21 statement.
Celebrities such as Tesla CEO Elon Musk, American TV host Oprah Winfrey, and Australian mining billionaires Andrew Forrest and Gina Rinehart have been impersonated in scam ads in the past.
Meta said the move is part of the firmâs broader crackdown against âceleb-baitâ scams from cyber criminals who have become increasingly sophisticated in stealing personal information or money from victims, Meta said:
âThis scheme, commonly called âceleb-bait,â violates our policies and is bad for people that use our products.â
Three of Metaâs seven tips to spot scams and stay safe online. Source: Meta
Mark Zuckerbergâs firm said it would soon start sending in-app notifications to many of the targeted celebrities, informing them that they have been enrolled in the protection measure and that they can choose to opt-out.
But Meta may need to proceed with caution following its recent $1.4 billion settlement with Texas for using the personal biometric data from millions of its residents without legal authorization.
Meta said it would immediately delete facial data generated when determining whether a celebrity ad is a scam.
It will also use facial recognition technology to allow people to verify their identity and regain access to compromised accounts.
Despite the increase in crypto scam advertisements on Facebook, Meta refuted claims from Australiaâs consumer regulator that nearly 60% of crypto investment schemes seen on Facebook were scams in August.
Many victims of these scams are lured into these crypto investment scams via AI-generated deepfakes.
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