Voices of GMA anchors faked in videos offering 'free' necklaces

Fake videos of GMA News anchors supposedly reporting on the distribution of necklaces from Italy have been posted on social media to scam users.

According to Raffy Tima's report on "24 Oras," fake videos with the face and voice of GMA News anchor and Senior Reporter Ivan Mayrina and GMA host Susan Enriquez were about the supposed distribution of necklaces from Italy.

It is obvious that the content of the video is not real news that was reported in the news program "24 Oras" or any of the social media platform of GMA News.

The graphics may seem real but the large fonts used in the video are not the type used by "24 Oras" and the GMA social media team.

In close examination of the voices in the video may sound like that of Mayrina and Enriquez. However, it can be observed that the movement of the mouth of the personalities featured in the video does not match the words.

The priest, who was introduced in the video, seemed to speak like a robot. The same priest, also based on the video, is the uploader.

An expert said the priest and video itself could be AI-generated.

"Possible na AI-generated talaga 'yung likeness nung priest and the video itself," said CyberQ Group Asia Pacific CEO Robert Tayag.

The message of the video, which is the distribution of necklaces from Italy, is hard to believe.

Tayag said the best way to confirm this would be to ask the person involved in the said distribution.

“Kung ‘yung mensahe ay hindi talaga kapani-paniwala, o hindi mo iisipin na galing talaga doon sa tao na yun. Siguro ang pinaka maganda, tanunging mo, confirm mo kung sa kaniya talaga ‘yun,” Tayag added.

(If the message is not believable, or you don't think it came from that person. Maybe the best thing is to ask and confirm if it's really true.)

Point of concern

What is disturbing about the video are the sound of the voices of Mayrina and Enriquez that can be done using artificial intelligence.

“Marami naman siyang makukuha na mga boses sa pagbo-broadcast araw-araw na pagsasalita niya, pagbo-broadcast niya. Ngayon, maraming mapagkukunanan, maganda yung training na mabibigay mo dun sa AI. So ngayon after matuto nung AI, mapapasabi mo na sa kaniya kung ano'ng gusto mong sabihin nya,” Tayag explained.

(Since AI gets many voices from broadcasting daily, it has many resources. The training you can give to AI is good. After learning, AI can say whatever you want it to say.)  

GMA Integrated News tried to contact the owner of the social media page, who, based on the photo introduced himself as the priest who was featured in the video. But the cellphone number displayed on the page cannot be contacted.

The video that featured Ivan Mayrina has garnered 1.8 million views since it was uploaded in December 2023. The video that featured Susan Enriquez reached 146,000 views.

GMA Integrated News is also trying to get a statement from the social media platform used to upload the video. The said social media company earlier said that they are going after misleading videos that are uploaded in their platform.

Raffy Tima reported that experts agree that it has become more and more difficult to determine whether a video uploaded in social media is fake or real. But netizens are advised to watch and understand the entire message of videos or audio posted on the internet. Do not believe that message on the video right away and make it a point to verify the video. — Sherylin Untalan/BAP, GMA Integrated News