Deepfake Taylor Swift ads offer free Le Creuset cookware scam

Fake adverts generated using AI used the likeness of Taylor Swift appearing to endorse a fake Le Creuset cookware giveaway to steal money and data.

In one of the videos, 'Swift' says 'Hey y'all, it's Taylor Swift here. Due to a packaging error, we can't sell 3,000 Le Creuset cookware sets. So I'm giving them away to my loyal fans for free.' Users were then directed from the ads, which ran on Facebook, tikiTok and other sites, to survey questions requesting personal information and a payment that supposedly covers shipping costs for the 'free' product. 

According to the New York Times, the fake promotional videos featured an uncanny Swift lookalike that was created with AI technology to replicate her appearance and voice. Computer science experts said the scam was most likely developed using text-to-speech software. 

Le Creuset said it had no association with Swift. The scammers remain unidentified.