'Trudeau said that he invested in the same thing:' How a deepfake video cost an Ontario man $11K US
CTV
An Ontario man who was persuaded to invest $11,000 USD in a platform after seeing a video of what appeared to be Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Elon Musk endorsing the platform said he was shocked to find it was all a scam — and that the video had been a deepfake.
An Ontario man who was persuaded to invest $11,000 USD after seeing a video of what appeared to be Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Elon Musk endorsing a platform said he was shocked to find it was all a scam — and that the video had been a deepfake.
“Trudeau said that he invested in the same thing and he made quite a bit of money, so, I thought it was an opportunity and maybe I could invest a few dollars and the money will grow,”said John, resident of Barrie, Ont. whom CTV News Toronto has agreed to refer to by a pseudonym.
John said he thought the videos were real and that he contacted the investment platform. He said he was encouraged to start with a $250 investment and that it appeared as though he was making money.
“He showed me that the money doubled and as time went by, he told me to invest a little more, and I invested a little more again and he showed me that the money doubled again,” he continued.
John said he ended up investing $11,000 USD and that he was told it had accumulated to $46,000 USD.
When he tried to withdraw the money, he was told it was blocked and that he would have to pay $6,000 more to have the funds released.
That’s when John said he knew he had been scammed.
