Elon Musk discovered a simple 30-second “refrigerator trick” that could reverse diabetes, but the discovery shocked pharmaceutical companies so much that they put a $78 million bounty on their heads, forcing the Tesla CEO to flee the country. At least, this is the collection of AI-generated Facebook ads.
Facebook ads portray the deeper performance of the characters from Elon Musk and Fox News, claiming that Tesla CEO found that the cure for diabetes had been circulating on the platform for weeks. These ads appear to be part of a broader scam that uses deep cigarettes to sell unproven supplements.
Since early February, Engadget has identified dozens of pages running these ads. Although many ads don’t stay for a long time, the same page repeatedly runs dozens or even hundreds of versions of videos, all of which follow a similar format. The vast majority hosted Elon Musk and Fox News hosts, but there are other notable figures including Oprah Winfrey, former Utah Senator Mitt Romney and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Using social media for a large amount of eagle-like supplements is nothing new. AFP fact check Detailed Similar scammy Facebook ads that promote supplements designed to cure high blood pressure last year. However, adding Ai-Warmed videos and dark audio from Musk adds a new layer to such scams.
While this particular scam is obviously largely undetected by Meta, the company is well aware that fraudsters often use celebrities and other public figures to attract unsuspecting users. Polish billionaire recently Win the legal battle With the company’s in-depth advertising, his portrait was used. Last fall, the company Announce It will bring back facial recognition technology to fight the “celebrity bait” scam.
Of course, Musk is no stranger to imitation scams. Crypto scammers have Impersonate him Over the years, the entire social media. However, his new position as President Donald Trump and head of the “Government Efficiency Department” makes him a more attractive target for fraudsters looking to capitalize on his newly discovered authority. Some of the ads identified by the Engadget feature video clips of Musk’s recent public appearances and speeches. These include videos in the OPP, known as CPAC and Oval Office, which was covered with AI-generated audio during the on-stage interview this month at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
“There are a lot of different ‘blood sugar support’, type 2 diabetes, reverse diabetes, and a little bit of a scam,” said Jordan Liles, senior journalist at Snopes. YouTube Channel. “It’s a process where you might see other scams because they start with an ad, they’ll do videos on the site for a long time, and then they want you to order the product. They want you to believe that everything you just saw is real.”
These ads appear to violate META’s multiple policies, including its rules surrounding medical misinformation and the advertiser’s disclosure of the use of AI-Wariped Media. Many of the ads identified by Engadget appear to have been removed within a day or two. However, many of the Facebook pages behind these ads have names like “Mindful Medicine”, “Your Health Compass” and “Welfare.” Shortly after deleting the old ads, dozens of new ads were repeatedly run on several pages.
Since the deleted ads are removed from Meta’s ad library and its associated analytics, it’s hard to know how many accounts they are going to reach. But a few clues that can still be seen provide some clues. One of the pages, a “healthy style” page, was active on Facebook, Instagram and Messenger for three days, according to the company’s advertising library. Advertisers paid $300 to $399 for advertising, generating 5,000-6,000 impressions. At some point in February, the page was running 177 ad-like versions. Another page from “Hydromeduoside” also ran for two days, generating 10,000 to 15,000 impressions on Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger. According to the Advertising Library, it costs between $400 and $499. Both ads were meta-deleted because they “no necessary disclaimer to run”, despite possible violations of other rules and no particular relationship to politics, according to the notice in the Advertising Library.
After Engadget made a query, Meta deleted the Healthy Style page. The company said in a statement that it is investigating ads and taking action on other pages. “The Advertising Review System reviews ads to violate our policies,” a spokesperson said. “This review process may include specific components of AD, such as images, videos, text and targeting information, as well as landing pages or other destinations related to the ads.”
Ads follow similar scripts. They often open up with Fox News’ Deepfakes to discuss how Musk recently “blasted the internet” by discovering the Musk that “Big Pharma” doesn’t want you to see. The ads then cut into his AI-Aniped video clips from podcasts or other public appearances. Many of the ads refer to the “Maha” website, which obviously refers to Kennedy’s “Make America healthy again” campaign.
These ads never reveal the actual “skills” used to reverse diabetes. In one version, Musk said, you only need “common fruit.” In another case, Kennedy said, it requires “frozen lemons.” Another suggests that all you need is “lemon and a pair of socks”. Advertisements urge viewers to visit a linked website to find a guide to “wipe from the internet before”. Strangely, the video ends with a few minutes of silence, showing a still image of a random object, such as a clock, a calculator, or a blood pressure cuff.
Most of these ads link to sites that try to trick mainstream news sites like Fox News, CNN or Yahoo (Engadget’s parent company). These sites usually don’t have obvious links to supplements, but instead contain additional verbose videos and AI manipulation clips with a wired news personality. The videos can run over 20 minutes and are often featured with AI-generated audio from AI-generated Audio barbra O’Neill (Australian Naturopathic Patient), a clip of Australian Naturopathic who was permanently banned from providing health-related services in her home country after claiming to be cured of cancer. Use baking soda.
(There is no evidence that O’Neal, who has become a popular health influencer in the United States in recent years, is actually associated with these sites. guardian Report Last year, scammers often used AI-generated content to impersonate O’Neill for selling unproven remedies on Facebook and Tiktok. Her official Facebook page often warns followers about fraudsters who pretend to be her on Facebook. O’Neal’s representative did not respond to a request for comment. )
Once it reaches the end of the video, a link appears, offering a limited-time “deal” on a supplement called “Gluco Revive.” The supplement is also available from third-party sellers on Amazon and Walmart.com and does not actually claim to treat any conditions related to diabetes. Instead, it shows that it provides “blood support” that “improves energy levels” and “supports healthy weight.” According to its label, it has a “proprietary blend” of ingredients like juniper berries powder and bitter gourd extract.
The FDA has previously warned consumers about companies selling over-counter diabetes treatments and supplements. “There are no dietary supplements that treat diabetes that can treat or cure diabetes,” the agency wrote in a warning published. In December. “Some ‘all-natural’ diabetes products contain hidden active ingredients in approved prescription drugs used to treat diabetes…these products may interact with other drugs in dangerous ways.”
While it’s impossible to know how many people have been fooled by these ads, there are dozens of glucose revivals on Amazon, some of which indicate thousands of sales last month. Reviews on Amazon range from $22 to $70 for sale, suggesting that some people may have purchased supplements after seeing the above ad. “It doesn’t work. I thought someone at the company would call me what to do. Dr. O’Neal [sic] Say we might feel the change in about 17 hours. It’s been 7 days, I don’t make any difference. ”
Another reviewer reported: “This didn’t work, it actually increased my blood sugar.” They noted that they found the product through Facebook. “When contacting supplements [sic] They did send me a return authorization number and address to send unused bottles…I packed them [and] Priority shipping was sent and returned to an address without such a request. I called USPS and they let me know that it was a scam and they had 100 returns to the address [and] They do not exist. ”
While Gluco Revive appears to be the most common supplement sold through this scam, some of the linked pages in Facebook ads sell similar products, such as “Gluco Control”, which claims to be “100% natural, safe and effective blood sugar management products.” The website says it consists of the gymnasium Sylvestre, grape seed extract, green tea extract and “African mango extract.” The website has a list of scientific references and media endorsed by media that seem to be entirely composed, promoting content from “Gluco Freedom” that has a similar ingredient list and provides a 180-day supply.
Liles was the Snopes Reporter that identified Gluco Revive ads on Facebook in early February and has looked at many similar scams on social media, suspecting that the ads have been successful. “If the same product has ads for weeks, weeks or months or months or more, it means that the result they are seeing is the result,” he said.
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