‘Shark Tank’ Stars Say Scammers Use AI to Include Their Images in Bogus Ads

AARP’s Fraud Watch Network Helpline receives a steady stream of reports from victims of these Shark Tank/keto gummy scams, says Amy Nofziger, director of fraud victim support at the Helpline. Recently they’ve include a caller who reported ordering keto pills over a year ago, but the seller has continued to send her more, even as she keeps returning them; and a woman who said she ordered some keto gummies online and was charged more for the initial purchase than expected, as well as an additional $189.  

Scammers’ new tool: AI

While the sharks attempt to fight the fraud, they say they’re facing new challenges in the past 18 months or so with the rise of readily available artificial intelligence (AI) tools, allowing scammers to create more realistic looking ads using celebrities’ images and voices.

“Just recently they have started to use AI to recreate my voice to sell crazy products,” Cuban notes. “It actually sounds a lot like me, but you can tell it’s not because the lips don’t match my mouth. I’m expecting that the tech will make it hard to determine what is really me or not.”

Newbill, too, is alarmed by these videos, including one that he says featured Greiner and singer Kelly Clarkson appearing to promote a weight-loss product. “With the recent improvements in AI, it looks like the scams are going to go to another level [where we’re] actually seeing the person talking about the product.”

He says it appears as though the criminals used existing videos of the two women, manipulating the lips to match the AI-cloned voices, as they apparently did in the video featuring Cuban.  

In December, Greiner posted a video on TikTok with some examples of scam video ads that used her likeness and AI-cloned voice to sell keto gummies. “They are fake. They are scam ads,” she says.

Courtesy: Lori Greiner

 Weight-loss scams — and realities

It’s not only Shark Tank stars’ images that have been misappropriated to advertise weight-loss products. In the past few years Dolly Parton and Oprah Winfrey have been among the celebrities who’ve been included in scammers’ online ads touting CBD or keto gummies. Last year Parton’s publicity team posted a note on Instagram saying as such: “Dolly Parton is not affiliated with, has not endorsed and is not associated with any keto or CBD gummy product. She’s more the cake, cookie, and cornbread type. — Team Dolly.”

So the ads are fake — but do the products work? As the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) notes in a 2023 warning about weight-loss-product scams, “There’s no magic way to lose weight without a sensible diet and regular exercise.”

Last month the FTC sent out another alert about these bogus ads for equally bogus weight-loss products, noting in blunt language:

• If someone says you don’t have to watch what you eat to lose weight, that’s a scam.
• If someone says using their product helps you lose weight permanently, that’s a scam.
• If someone tells you that, to lose weight, all you have to do is take their pill, that’s a scam.

Karen Hobbs, assistant director in the FTC’s Division of Consumer & Business Education, has also warned that “the government doesn’t review supplements for safety or effectiveness before they’re put on the market.” It’s a largely unregulated market, so regardless of how the product is advertised it is difficult to know what you’re buying and how it will affect you. Hobbs suggests consulting your health care professional about whether a supplement is safe for you.

Fighting back

The sharks have complained often about the lack of action from the online platforms that take these ads. In a 2022 Twitter (now X) post, Cuban wrote, “This s--- has been going on for years. We report them, the platforms do nothing and people get ripped off!”

One bit of good news: Last week Google announced that starting in March it will no longer accept ads with fake endorsements. The company claims it will “update the Unacceptable business practices portion of the Misrepresentation policy to include enticing users to part with money or information by impersonating or falsely implying affiliation with or endorsement by a public figure, brand, or organization.” Violators won’t be able to advertise with Google again.

“The platforms — Meta, Google, LinkedIn — are getting better,” O’Leary says, “but the most important thing is education for people.”

You can find a list of all the real Shark Tank products that have been featured on the show on ABC’s site, notes Newbill: “If it’s not listed there, it didn’t appear on Shark Tank."