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This investigative report contains AI-generated images and videos created to show you the best ways to identify real versus AI. <\/i><\/p>\n
This is the second part of InvestigateTV\u2019s mAnIpulated series, examining the ways in which AI is impacting our everyday lives.<\/i><\/p>\n
<\/i>Visit the series homepage<\/i><\/a> to follow each national release as well as reports from your local Gray Media stations.<\/i><\/p>\n ATLANTA (InvestigateTV<\/a>) \u2014 Scammers are using artificial intelligence to create convincing fake images and videos of celebrities and athletes, targeting unsuspecting fans with increasingly sophisticated schemes that have cost victims thousands of dollars. <\/p>\n The FBI\u2019s Internet Crime Complaint Center received 859,532 complaints in 2024, with related losses topping $16.6 billion, a 33% increase from 2023. In Georgia alone, reported potential losses reached $420 million, a 40% increase year over year, according to the FBI\u2019s 2024 Internet Crime Report.<\/p>\n Ray Waldheim, who runs the verified fan page \u201cAtlanta Braves Chop Live\u201d with more than 242,000 followers, said he constantly sees fake photos of real players on other pages with names like \u201cBraves Dugout\u201d and \u201cTomahawk Territory.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of AI-generated fake Braves fan pages that are garnering a lot of followers and a lot of likes,\u201d Waldheim said.<\/p>\n The fake pages often feature AI-generated images designed to tug at heartstrings, such as Braves players in uniform helping flood victims or performing charitable acts that never happened. <\/p>\n \u201cOne of the sad parts about it is that they\u2019re playing on people\u2019s emotions, obviously,\u201d Waldheim said.<\/p>\n David Schweidel, an AI expert at Emory University\u2019s Goizueta Business School, said emotional manipulation is key to the scammers\u2019 success.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I can get you thinking emotionally, you\u2019re not thinking rationally,\u201d Schweidel said. \u201cWe\u2019re living in a scary time because publicly available AIs and specifically the publicly available generative AI tools have gotten really, really good, very quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n Sean O\u2019Malley, co-founder of Atlanta Braves Chop Live, said fake pages are posting identical stories with different players. He\u2019s seen the same fabricated story about \u201cAustin Riley giving away his old pickup truck to his old janitor\u201d appear on football pages with different athletes and the same truck.<\/p>\n The scammers often impersonate players in comments sections, then move conversations to private messages where they build fake relationships before requesting money.<\/p>\n Waldheim said one woman contacted his page after losing $2,000 to someone impersonating Braves third baseman Austin Riley.<\/p>\n \u201cThey reach out to us and they\u2019re like, \u2018Hey, what happened to this money that I donated to Austin Riley. Because Austin Riley contacted me and said that he had some financial issues and needed me to send him $2,000\u2032,\u201d Waldheim said. \u201cAnd I\u2019m thinking, you know, Austin Riley, a hundred-something million dollar contract, obviously not having any financial issues.\u201d<\/p>\n The technology has advanced to the point where scammers can create convincing deepfakes of anyone with minimal source material.<\/p>\n \u201cBaseball players, actors, any type of public figure, right. The video and audio of you doing your job is all that\u2019s necessary to create these digital twins that are going to be used to rip people off,\u201d Schweidel said.<\/p>\n The professor noted that legitimate social media posts provide all the material scammers need. <\/p>\n \u201cThat voice clip that you would need to create a voice clone is probably on the platform already,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n O\u2019Malley said the fake pages often trace back to foreign operators. \u201cOne of the pages, it mentions the admins from Vietnam,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The problem extends far beyond the Braves. \u201cEvery major sports team is going to have this problem,\u201d Waldheim said.<\/p>\n \u201cThese people who are scammers are very smart. That\u2019s all they do for a living, and they\u2019re doing it on multiple locations,\u201d O\u2019Malley said.<\/p>\n Experts recommend several steps to avoid becoming a victim:<\/p>\n \u201cSpend the few clicks that you need to say, okay, this page that I\u2019m looking at, when was it created? Where is it based out of? What size following does it have? Like do your due diligence,\u201d Schweidel said.<\/p>\n Waldheim advised fans to be realistic about celebrity interactions. \u201cOf course, we all would love to have Acu\u00f1a directly reach out to us and say, \u2018Hey, let\u2019s be friends on social media.\u2019 Of course we would. As Braves fans, that would be great. But in reality, that\u2019s not going to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n The celebrities themselves are victims, too, Schweidel noted.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ve got to get over that positive halo that you might have toward the person that\u2019s been featured because the person being featured isn\u2019t partnering with the people posting this, right. They\u2019re victims just like everyone else in this, in that their likeness is being ripped off in order to try to perpetrate these scams.\u201d<\/p>\n Can you spot the AI-generated images in our interactive digital game? <\/i>You can play this game and more at our mAnIpulated series homepage.<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n This is the second story of InvestigateTV\u2019s mAnIpulated: A mIsinformAtIon nAtIon series.<\/i><\/p>\nThis photo gallery contains examples of AI-generated photos featuring players from the Atlanta Braves baseball team. Each photo is denoted with an \u2018AI\u2019 label in the top right of the image:<\/i><\/h6>\n
Emotional manipulation can cost victims thousands<\/h3>\n
Technology makes anyone vulnerable<\/h3>\n
How to protect yourself<\/h3>\n
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Put Your Skills to the Test<\/h3>\n
Watch more from the mAnIpulated: A mIsinformAtIon nAtIon<\/u><\/a> Series <\/h4>\n