Wendy Petrie’s identity stolen in Instagram gambling scam; new Aussie ‘Visa’ calls target Kiwis

TV presenter Wendy Petrie’s identity and voice has been stolen in an Instagram gambling scam.

Pirated 1News video interspersed with file footage of a Ferrari and money featured in the fake Petrie ad on Instagram.

The promotion also had what seemed to be an interview with the happy customer of an app with a “97 per cent chance of success”.

TVNZ said artificial intelligence was being misused to commandeer the identities of trusted public figures in increasingly sophisticated cons.

The Petrie ad featured a beaming “millionaire” and for the first few seconds, the voice resembled that of the real-life presenter known to many New Zealand viewers.

But as the seconds went by, an increasingly jumbled and strange accent on the voiceover became apparent.

The promotion had what seemed to be an interview with the happy customer of an app with a “97 per cent chance of success”.

The fake Petrie said the happy customer in the story celebrated by “booying” a beach house and a “looxury” car.

A TVNZ spokeswoman said these types of scams were rampant.

“We saw a similar scam ad featuring a misrepresentation of Simon Dallow late last year ... and I note that NZME talent and other well-known New Zealanders have seen their images used and voices falsified too.”

The broadcaster added: “To be clear, these are scam advertisements.”

She said TVNZ’s lawyers initiated proceedings as soon as new fraud emerged but it was difficult to stamp it out.

TVNZ said scams could impact vulnerable viewers.

Overseas, some US senators have taken aim at deepfakes with a proposed bill to classify such material as a digital forgery.

Last year, former socialite Aja Rock and Kiwi women were targeted in deepfake videos, used to scam friends and followers out of thousands of dollars.

Australia phone calls

Several people have reported receiving unsolicited scam phone calls from Australian numbers recently.

“It was a woman with an American accent, a recorded message saying they were from Visa and they had noticed some unusual debits or transactions on my credit card account,” an Auckland man said today.

He did actually have a Visa card, and wondered where the unsolicited caller got his number.

The message indicated one “suspicious” transaction was for Amazon and the other for an iTunes gift card or similar gift card.

The voice added: “If you want to decline, press one, or approve this, press three.”

The Auckland man hung up. He has since checked his Visa card statement and seen no such suspicious transactions.

He said he was very familiar with scams but naive people could be duped.

“I can see how someone who might not be so attuned to these sorts of things [might] panic...the first reaction would be to press one.”

The Herald called two of the Australian numbers.

One went to a voicemail greeting from a woman with an Australian accent. The other went to voicemail with an unclear greeting.

Mobile phone numbers in Australia can be recycled after six months, the Australian Communications and Media Authority said on its website.

“Usually telcos hold numbers in quarantine for a minimum of 6 months (12 months if the service was disconnected due to nuisance calls).”

Fake shares, money laundering

Private investigator Phil Jones said the scam victims coming to him for help most often were people who’d sent large amounts of money abroad, especially to elaborate fake investments.

Jones, Omega Investigations managing director, said one prospective client recently complained of losing money to what had seemed like a fantastic company.

The alleged victim confronted the overseas-based investment operator.

“The guy said: It’s a genuine thing, it’s a share, I’ve got the share certificates.”

But the New Zealand man’s money was gone, Jones said.

“You can’t chase 50 grand when it’s probably in an account in Nigeria somewhere or an account in the Cayman Islands.”

Jones said sometimes the only way to handle such losses was to confront banks over anti-money laundering responsibilities.

It was often hard for people to take action individually but Jones said sometimes class actions were launched.

And in major scams duping people across the world out of tens or hundreds of millions of dollars, sometimes the US authorities would take action.

John Weekes is an online business editor and a reporter. He has covered some of New Zealand and Queensland’s most high-profile court cases and trials, as well as politics, breaking news and consumer affairs.