"A foundation representing Princess Leonor, the 20-year-old heir to the Spanish throne, has warned that scammers are using AI-generated videos of the princess posted by fake profile pages to cheat social media users out of money. In the posts on TikTok Leonor promises users payments running to thousands of dollars in return for an upfront fee of a few hundred dollars. Once this fee has been paid, the fraudster typically keeps demanding more before disappearing from sight."
"An investigation by the El Pais newspaper in 2024 found that all the telephone numbers used in the scam were from the Dominican Republic. Some of the videos had been viewed over a million times, the paper has reported. In a warning about the fraud, the website of the Princess of Asturias Foundation, which represents Leonor, said: The foundation does not have any programmes offering financial help, subsidies for projects, lotteries or any other monetary operations for the benefit of individual citizens."
Scammers use AI-generated videos of Princess Leonor on fake TikTok profiles to deceive users into paying upfront fees. The posts promise payments worth thousands of dollars in exchange for an initial fee of a few hundred dollars, after which fraudsters demand additional sums and then disappear. An El Pais investigation in 2024 found telephone numbers linked to the scam were from the Dominican Republic and reported some videos exceeded one million views. The Princess of Asturias Foundation stated it does not offer financial help or lotteries to individuals and that Leonor does not provide financial assistance via the foundation. TikTok policies prohibit impersonation and manipulation, but complaints about the fake profiles were repeatedly deemed not in breach.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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