The Nomani investment scam has seen a staggering 62% surge, driven by sophisticated AI deepfake advertisements across social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube. By leveraging high-resolution deepfakes of popular personalities and topical events, fraudsters are deceiving users into non-existent investment products with the promise of massive returns. ESET researchers have blocked over 64,000 unique URLs this year alone, noting a significant evolution in the scam's technical sophistication. Beyond the initial financial loss, victims are often targeted a second time by fraudulent "recovery services" posing as law enforcement agencies like Europol or INTERPOL. This blog post breaks down how the scam operates, the latest technical upgrades used by threat actors—including AI-generated HTML code and cloaking pages—and the broader implications for social media advertising platforms like Meta. We also look at the recent Reuters investigation into how these scams bypass moderation. Stay informed and learn how to spot these realistic deepfakes to protect your funds from this growing global threat.
