A Reddit user named Ok_Calender_851 posted an alarming deepfake video that was so convincing that it almost fooled his friends parents.
His friends parents thought they had won a contest and they were just about ready to send in money before he saved them.
The HGTV Remodel Contest Scam
“My friend had parents (60+) win a “HGTV Remodel” contest. All was going good until i saw one of the videos “hgtv” sent them”.
The alert user spent hours investigating the suspicious video that they received until he was able to locate the original on Instagram. Scammers had apparently taken this video and then created a deepfake to convince them to send a deposit after they won a contest to remodel their home.
This is the original video that was deepfaked.
An Elaborate Scam That Started On Facebook
The Reddit user described the scam in his own words.
“A week or so ago, my friend says “my parents won a remodel contest from hgtv, they are planning on selling their house and moving to this new house that will be remodeled by hgtv”
His friends parents had apparently sent an application for an HGTV remodel contest on Facebook. After winning, they were told that they had to make a downpayment to get the remodel.
Throughout the email communications, the scammers even made the domains look real. “The emails they sent had several @ hgtvshow . com emails with the names of the vice presidents and executives of the company”, said the Reddit user.
Even After He Found The Video, They Didn’t Believe It
Frustatingly, even after the helpful friend found the original video, his friends parents didn’t believe it.
“Even though we found the original video that was not enough to convince the parents it was a scam. they brushed it off many times. it wasnt until i made this side by side frame by frame comparison did they see.”
Check Out The Deepfake Here
Check out the post here where you can see the videos side by side.
