New research has shed light on the growing use of deepfakes impersonating current U.S. government officials.
Search for Cybernews claimed that over the past two years, there have been 156 deepfake incidents targeting currently serving U.S. officials, including President Trump and Vice President Vance.
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Deep and false growth
Cybernews’ research was based on data from the Resemble.ai deepfake incident database, which includes more than 2,000 cases from March 11, 2024.
The report found that President Donald Trump was behind 90 of the 156 recorded cases, or 58% of all deepfake incidents in the dataset.
This is perhaps not very surprising, since Trump appears to be particularly fond of posting simulated or doctored images of himself in new roles or appearances on his Truth Social network.
Marco Rubio (13 cases) and JD Vance (12 cases) come next, with the three accounting for nearly three-quarters of all reported cases.
The most targeted Democratic figure was Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez with 9 instances, followed by Amy Klobuchar (6 instances) and Hakeem Jeffries (5 instances).
These small numbers highlight how scammers use a select group of highly recognizable personalities to capture interest and hook victims.
The use of deepfakes is of particular concern as the US midterm elections approach, with scammers or hackers potentially using the technology to promote inaccurate or false views.
As always, we urge everyone to take extra care when viewing or clicking on potentially questionable online posts, especially if it is a site you do not regularly visit or have never heard of.
Be especially wary of sites asking for personal information, including payment or card details.
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