aceDeepfake Anthony Albanese used in celebrity scams duping Australians out of $7.4m, Asic warns
Abstract: There has been a steep rise in scammers luring victims into phoney investment opportunities using deepfakes of celebrities and politicians, Australia’s corporate watchdog has warned. And Anthony Albanese is the figure most commonly co-opted. Real footage of the prime minister, overlaid with fake audio promising Australians can invest $4,000 to earn $40,000 a month, appears in one video online. “This is not just another scam product,” the deepfake Albanese says, falsely describing it as an “official platform” wit…
By 16 August 2026, Australia's corporate watchdog ASIC warned of a steep rise in investment scams using AI-generated deepfakes, most commonly of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. One circulating video used real footage overlaid with fake audio promising $4,000 could earn $40,000 a month as an 'official platform' with a government guarantee. Reports to Scamwatch linked $7.4m in losses to the top 10 impersonated public figures.
The case matters because it shows generative AI lowering the cost of convincing impersonation at scale, enabling polished fake brands and testimonials that bypass simple online checks. ASIC's tripling caseload and surge in takedowns suggest detection and consumer verification are lagging, leaving uncertainty about total losses beyond reported figures and the effectiveness of licence checks when scammers misuse them.
- ASIC dealt with more than 19,400 scams last financial year, almost triple the prior year, including 5,476 phishing links, 7,051 fake investment platforms and 3,106 cryptocurrency scams.
- Scammers built networks of fake brands, websites, reviews, news articles and videos that funnel money to overseas criminals, opportunistically changing impersonated figures with the news cycle.
- ASIC chair Sarah Court warned polished content and familiar branding do not mean legitimacy and advised verifying website addresses and Australian financial services licences against ASIC registers.
AI-generated deepfakes impersonating Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and other public figures were used in fake investment pitches, contributing to $7.4m in reported losses to the top 10 impersonated figures.
The rundown
ASIC reported handling more than 19,400 scams in the last financial year, with takedowns of 5,476 phishing hyperlinks, 7,051 fake investment platforms and 3,106 crypto scams, all sharply up year-on-year. The watchdog described networks of fake brands, reviews and news articles working together to funnel funds overseas.
The top impersonated list beyond Albanese included economists Tom Piotrowski and Stephen Koukoulas, journalist Alan Kohler, politicians Jacqui Lambie and Angus Taylor, plus Dick Smith, Gina Rinehart, Alan Oster, Pauline Hanson and John Laws. ASIC noted scammers change targets with the news cycle and misuse legitimate financial licences.
Sources
- JournalismThe Guardian2026-08-16
How should this claim be treated?
The debate