Businessman and former Senator Manuel B. Villar Jr. on Sunday warned the public of a deep fake video making use of his face and voice to promote an investment scam.
Villar in a statement said deceptive individuals made use of artificial intelligence or AI to alter an old footage of him in an interview with TV network SMNI.
In the video, Villar was quoted as promoting a supposedly lifesaving platform named Momentum Capital.
“I don’t like long conversations. I am proud of this project and I am glad this will help many people,” the deepfake video said.
“I guarantee that every participant of my program investing a minimum amount of 450 to 500 Philippine pesos will earn a minimum of 4,500 Philippine pesos per day. Try it,” it said.
Villar urged the public to disregard the video.
“I enjoin the public to be more discerning and extra cautious when viewing posts and videos that use AI technology and that promise easy money or success.”
“There is no such thing as easy money. There is no substitute to good, old fashioned sipag at tiyaga in achieving success in life. Mag-iingat po tayo sa mga manloloko,” Villar said in a statement.
A similar deepfake video recently hit the government in April when an AI-altered content circulated in which President Marcos Jr. urged military action against China.
The government alluded to a “foreign actor” for the proliferation of the video that surfaced at a time when friction between China and the Philippines over the West Philippine Sea was intense.
The government has vowed to pursue charges against individuals behind the video.
