An Ohio man says he was tricked by an artificial intelligence scam that made him believe he was communicating with country music star Jelly Roll.
Ronnie Flint told WDTN-TV that the scam came through deepfake videos via Facebook Messenger.
“I really thought it was Jelly Roll,” Flint told the network.
The message, purportedly from the star, claimed he had won $50,000 on a brand-new car.
Flint said the account even sent him what appeared to be Jelly Roll’s driver’s license.
Then came videos that sold him on the scam.
“When they sent the second video where he actually said my full name, that got me,” Flint said. “I was like, wow, it really is Jelly Roll. He said my name.”
But there was a catch. Flint said the scammer asked him to cover shipping costs to receive his supposed prizes, which he agreed to do.
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Flint, who lives on a fixed income, said he sent scammers $70 in Apple gift cards.
“I even told him that I’m on disability. You know, this is all the money that I have for the rest of the month,” Flint said.
A family member told him it was a scam. He then filed a police report.
But the messages demanding more money kept coming.
“They’re thinking I’m going to send them another $30 on the 3rd, which ain’t going to happen,” Flint told WDTN.
Flint said he contacted the local media to warn others about such scams.
“That’s why I called you guys, because I want to put it out there because maybe somebody else already fell for it,” he said. “I don’t want them to fall for it the way I did.”
Some of the star’s fans have said in the past that scammers have used the singer’s image.
In one Facebook group, JELLY ROLL FANS, a member posted a warning.
“Be careful I have been scammed by someone using the name Jelly Roll. There are quite a few of them out there for sure. It made me question the integrity of every Jelly Roll account!” the user wrote.
Other comments echoed the concern.
“It’s hard to tell the difference,” one wrote.
“I had just got some thing from this Jelly Roll, blocked it!” another said.
The singer has not commented publicly on scammers using his likeness.
WIRED reported on such scams earlier this year when noting how advanced deepfake technology had become.
The outlet reported, “They need you to cover the cost of their Wi-Fi access, maybe. Or they’re trying out this new cryptocurrency. You should really get in on it early! And then, only after it’s too late, you realize that the person you were talking to was in fact not real at all.”
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