cross-posted from: https://reddthat.com/post/56223456
George Hendricks, a 69-year-old from Leesburg, a suburb of Orlando, told ClickOrlando he lost $45,000 after a scammer targeted him with a deepfake video of Musk. Deepfakes are digitally-altered videos often used to impersonate notable public figures.
Now, Hendricks tells the outlet that his wife “wants to get a divorce” over the scam.
You don’t have to be tech savvy to realise the adage “if it sounds too good to be true…”. I would have thought Americans of all people would develop armour against scams. But even a modicum of due diligence like asking relatives, or googling his situation might have protected him.
I should add that my dad is 80 and housebound and gets scam calls all the time and bats them off like flies so being old is not an excuse.
I said he was stupid. What do you want from me?