WEST HARRISON, Ind. — Fake videos using a celebrity's image are becoming a problem as AI and advanced editing platforms become more sophisticated.
These AI figures can have anyone endorse anything, and they can now put words in their mouth to make that very real-looking endorsement.
Most recently, the daughter of comedian Robin Williams pleaded for fans to stop making AI videos using her father's face.
Another recent fake video shows what appears to be Oprah Winfrey promoting a weight loss supplement.
"Listen up. The video showing the pink salt trick that melts belly fat while you sleep has already passed 21 million views on TikTok," the AI-generated Oprah says in the video.
The fake Oprah pushes the supplement, claiming it "mimics the effects of Mounjaro" for a fraction of the cost.
But she isn't endorsing it, and it doesn't work as claimed, according to dozens of complaints made to the Better Business Bureau.
The real Oprah has pointed out numerous times that she does not endorse any weight loss supplement.
Watch how easy it is to fall for an AI-generated celebrity pitch:
But AI deepfakes now have her pushing a number of products, as Suzanne Spangler of West Harrison, Indiana, just learned.
"One thing they showed was a picture of Oprah Winfrey," Spangler said.
A longtime fan, Spangler decided to try out the pink salt weight loss supplement that did not require shots.
"It was something that you take orally, it wasn't like a shot or injection, and that's what had me interested," she said.
But when it arrived, a plain brown box contained just a half dozen tiny green bottles, with an eye dropper on the top of each.
"There was no paperwork," Spangler said about the complete lack of instructions.
Her credit card, though, was billed over $300.
"$314.58 for six bottles," she said.
So she tried to ship it back to the seller's address in Florida for a refund, but got some bad news from her shipping store.
"She said the address they gave you is not right. It's a car shop," Spangler said.
We are attempting to track down the company behind the mystery potion, but so far have not received a response.
"It is very easy to create incredibly realistic deepfake content, for any person at this point," said Dave Hatter, security expert at Intrust IT.
Hatter said you should question any celebrity endorsement, pointing to recent fake content using Taylor Swift and Tom Hanks.
"As the technology progresses, it's getting harder and harder to look at synthetic media content and say that it's been faked," Hatter said.
Spangler said she'll never trust a celebrity endorsement again.
The hoax-busting site Snopes has posted a report on how these Oprah deepfake ads keep popping up and going viral, despite attempts by social media sites to stop them.
So if Oprah is telling you to buy one, it is probably not her, so don't waste your money.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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