Manga artist Chikae Ide has been scammed of more than half a million U.S. dollars after being tricked by a deepfake version of Mark Ruffalo. The Asahi Shimbun reports that Ide, who authored and drew manga from the '60s onward, including Viva! Volleyball, fell victim to a scam where someone pretended to be Marvel's Hulk actor, engaging in an online romance that left the 74-year-old woman believing a deepfake version of Ruffalo was the real thing.
Deepfakes are still a relatively new creation, as the technology allows users to use A.I. to replace someone's face in a recorded video. Deepfake technology has been used to fake moments involving politicians, replace actors in an iconic movie scene, and for pretty much any applicable function that would require changing someone's face with great detail. However, one of the many scarier aspects of deepfakes includes having someone believe that the user is actually someone else, as was the case for manga artist Chikae Ide, who was scammed for more than $500,000 USD by someone who claimed to be Marvel actor Mark Ruffalo.
In a report by Misako Takahashi for The Asahi Shimbun, a cautionary tale regarding a scam involving a Mark Ruffalo deepfake and a manga artist was told. In the story, Chikae Ide shares how she was contacted on Facebook by someone claiming to be Ruffalo, who built an emotional trust with Ide, and after developing a romantic online relationship, even video called her to prove it was him. Unbeknownst to Ide, it was a scammer on the other end using deepfake technology to pretend to be the actor. The scammer continually asked for thousands of dollars, emotionally manipulating Ide by saying he needed money for a plane ticket, hospital bills, and cash troubles. Ide sent her earnings from her career and sponsorships to her "Husband," who even faked having cancer to get money from her.
The Mark Ruffalo Deepfake Scam Was Turned Into A Novel and Manga
Thankfully, Ide's daughter stepped in, and after some convincing and sending the deepfake Ruffalo 200,000 yen to see if the fake Marvel actor would send it back as promised (which he never did), she ended the relationship. While police have never been able to find the scammer, Ide turned the painful ordeal into a novel and manga. Poison Love offers a fictitious story about being scammed and tells a tale similar to what happened to Ide.
Ide said in the report that she hopes people take her story as a lesson while sharing that she will "continue to draw manga until I die to pay" her friends back who she borrowed money from. The deepfake scam is the latest scariest example of the technology being used to take advantage of people unaware of its capabilities. Yes, the real Mark Ruffalo never spoke to Ide or what was involved in the scam, but to the manga artist, the deepfake of the Marvel actor was enough to convince her it was legit. The entire ordeal is an incredibly tragic affair.
Source: asahi.com