Scammers started using images of stars to advertise fake stores.

Scammers can use videos generated by artificial intelligence (AI) with images of celebrities to attract customers to fake online stores. On October 27, the Department for the Organization of the Fight against the Illegal Use of Information and Communication Technologies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia warned about this.

"Fake online stores sell equipment and other goods at a significant discount, explaining the low price as "delivery from abroad" or a large sale. <...> Videos featuring famous personalities generated using AI can be used for persuasiveness in advertising," the Telegram channel says.

At the same time, customers are asked to make a full prepayment and promise to deliver the order within a month. The product does not arrive after the specified period. Fraudsters may explain the delay by problems at customs, and money for a failed purchase is not refunded.

The Interior Ministry recommended checking reviews on independent platforms, not agreeing to a full prepayment and using payment upon receipt or payment protection services. Buyers were also urged not to succumb to artificial urgency. Promises of a discount only today, a limited number of items, or an early end to the promotion can be a way to get a person to transfer money in a hurry.

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Cybercriminals offer to set up 5G, as well as create fake shops and practical jokes.

Netizens complained about the IphonBerry online store, which, according to them, left about 300 customers without money and equipment. Later, the site was renamed Wylsacom. Technoblogger Wylsacom told Izvestia on October 23 that he had discovered the store and had its website blocked.

On the same day, it became known that singers Prokhor Chaliapin, Larisa Dolina and ballerina Anastasia Volochkova were offered to get smartphones for free and make a video with them. After the publication of the video with Chaliapin in the store, users began to warn him about possible fraud. Later, on October 24, Chaliapin confirmed to Izvestia that he had almost become a victim of the scheme. Dolina's director Sergey Pudovkin, in turn, said that the videos featuring the singer were generated by a neural network.