Scammers Use AI to Sell Phony Cures for Alzheimer’s

Scammers are selling a worthless, honey-based product on social media that claims to cure Alzheimer’s disease, backed by celebrity endorsements that also are fake.

In various social media posts, the supposed “cure” is given names like Brain Honey and Mind Boost, according to Forbes Magazine, and may include phony coverage by CNN or ABC News to add credibility. Interested consumers are asked to click on links to websites that sell them the ineffective remedies.

To further gain people’s trust, the scammers use artificial intelligence tools to impersonate respected public figures endorsing the products. These have included former Microsoft chief Bill Gates, actor Samuel L. Jackson, CNN medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta, and broadcast journalist Savannah Guthrie of NBC.

One post recently circulating on Facebook featured an AI-created copy of 100-year-old Dick Van Dyke claiming that the honey product had brought a swift and dramatic improvement to his own cognitive health. Another social media post cited a non-existent study from Harvard University that supposedly pointed to evidence of the product’s effectiveness, Forbes reported.

The brain-honey scam is a type of elder fraud that targets widespread fears of cognitive decline among millions of aging Americans. While new medications for Alzheimer’s disease have entered the marketplace, and may slow its advancement in early stages, there is no cure at this time.

This fraud is one of a growing array of “deepfakes,” in which scammers use artificial intelligence to make videos that seem to feature real people but are just phony creations to manipulate the public.

Consumer Tip: Don’t Let That Fake Video Trick You

While the quality of deepfakes has improved, experts say that careful viewers may be able to identify them by spotting certain giveaways. According to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, these “tells” may include: inconsistencies in skin tone, inappropriate shadows, improper depiction of glare on eyeglasses, eyes that do not blink, and facial hair that does not look real on close inspection.

“High-quality deepfakes are not easy to discern, but with practice, people can build intuition for identifying what is fake and what is real,” MIT experts found.

Fraudsters in Hollywood are Putting on an Act of Deceit

As the Alzheimer’s honey scam shows, fraudsters look at human desperation as an opportunity to make money. A lower-tech fraud making the rounds in Hollywood provides yet one more illustration.

In this case, the targets are struggling actors and actresses who yearn for their big break.

The scheme is simple enough. As explained in the Hollywood Reporter, scammers browse databases to identify performers who are searching for work. They then contact their targets, falsely claiming to be established agents who can set up the actors with a major role. To bolster their own credibility, scammers typically ask actors to submit tapes of their work. Actors who comply may be told they got the job. Fake agents then direct their targets to a website that supposedly collects union dues or some sort of initiation fee.

Unfortunately for the aspiring entertainer, there is no real acting job. The payment goes to the fraudster who then disappears.

“It feels like whoever’s doing it has a strong understanding of the casting process because they’re actually asking for auditions now and sometimes even giving feedback and really leading you down the merry path,” Tiffany Little Canfield, a legitimate casting director, told the Hollywood Reporter.

According to that publication, perpetrators have claimed connections with a growing list of hit television shows including Grey’s Anatomy, Friday Night Lights, Scandal, Avatar, Riverdale, and The Good Doctor.

Banks Turn to Behavioral Science to Fight Scammers

Scammers are exploiting holes in the US financial system to steal more than $60 billion a year – and banks, policy makers, law enforcement and regulators need to work together to fight back. That was the message from Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle W. Bowman in a May speech entitled, “A Coordinated Approach to Consumer Fraud Protection.”

The sweet spots for scammers are bank transfers and payment systems, which made up 40 percent of fraud losses in 2024, she said. The problem has gotten so bad that some banks are now advising their tellers to watch out for customers who seem to be taking instructions over the phone when they request withdrawals.

JPMorgan Chase, the largest US bank, has invested in fraud and scam detection and prevention, estimating it has saved customers from losing $12 billion. It has even hired a behavioral scientist to develop “scam interruption teams,” a practice profiled in a recent New York Times article,

“These specialists swoop in when they determine that a criminal is stringing someone along based, for example, on data and behaviors tracked behind the scenes or “tells” given inside a branch,” the Times reported.

The “scam interruption specialists” reach out to customers it suspects are being defrauded in real time, hoping to stop the fraud before it happens. The customers, blinded by their relationship with the scammer, don’t always listen.

The Federal Reserve’s Bowman said customers have shown up at banks to withdraw money while they are on their cell phones with scammers. In response, some banks have banned cellphone use during in-person transactions.

A Chase bank teller, trained to prevent scams, helped an elderly customer foil a scam when the woman showed up at the Scarsdale, NY branch and asked to transfer $9,000 into a new account in someone else’s name. She was on the phone with the scammer at the time of the transaction, the New York Times reported.

To battle similar scenarios, AARP developed a 30-minute BankSafe Initiative course to help train tellers in scam recognition and prevention. More than 1,500 banks and credit unions have signed up for it.

It’s important to remember that banks are only monitoring transactions in accounts that exist within their own four walls. Using EverSafe monitoring, you can identity scammers who work across financial accounts in various institutions (i.e. savings, checking, investment, retirement, credit cards, credit report), real estate and now – email.