Popular 'scam catcher' Youtuber exposes ''deepfake scams'' alongside some Georgian scammers.

Scammers are increasingly utilizing artificial intelligence to create convincing digital replicas of professional athletes and celebrities, targeting unsuspecting fans on social media. These sophisticated schemes rely on emotional manipulation and the mass production of fabricated content to deceive followers into sending money, with reported losses in the United States reaching billions of dollars.

What happened

The fraudulent activity involves the creation of fake social media pages that impersonate professional athletes, such as Atlanta Braves third baseman Austin Riley. Operators of these pages leverage publicly available media—including photos and voice clips—to construct digital twins of public figures. By posting fabricated stories, such as claims that a player is performing charitable acts or experiencing financial hardship, scammers build emotional connections with fans. Once rapport is established, they transition to private messaging to solicit funds directly.

In one documented instance, a victim lost $2,000 after being convinced to donate to an impersonator posing as Austin Riley under the guise of financial distress. Investigators note that the same fabricated narratives, such as a story about a player giving away a pickup truck to a janitor, are being recycled across various sports fan pages with different athletes substituted in. Experts warn that these operations are often run by overseas entities that exploit the high volume of content produced by legitimate public figures to fuel their deepfake models. To mitigate risk, security experts advise fans to verify the legitimacy of social media pages by checking creation dates and geographic locations, and to remain highly skeptical of direct messages from celebrities, as public figures do not typically solicit personal financial assistance from their followers.