Home and Away fans face a wave of dangerous phishing scams. Scammers use false claims about cast members and fool them using deepfake technology. They then trick viewers into clicking links that steal personal data. Meanwhile, do you check for the blue tick? Keep scrolling to learn more.
Fake Pages Are Spreading Wrong Claims About Cast Members
Over the past few weeks, several pages have started posting dramatic headlines about the show’s actors. These pages claimed that actors had died, been diagnosed with serious diseases or even gotten secretly married. Thinking the news is real, fans click and land on unsafe sites. Those sites are doing nothing more than collecting personal details.
A spokesperson from Seven said that the pages have already been reported. Hence, they asked viewers to trust only verified accounts for updates about the show or the cast. The network has also given a warning. They say that these scam pages often use edited videos, deepfake audio.
However, it’s not a new problem in the soap world. Several British shows faced similar scams last year. And even ITV had to tell viewers that their actors will never message fans asking for money, meetings or personal interactions
Several Home and Away Actors Dragged Into False Rumours
Some scam pages focus on actors like Hailey Pinto and Emily Wier. One claimed that Hailey was preparing for a wedding. Meanwhile, another showed Emily in a completely made-up new relationship. However, as we know, none of it had any truth behind it.
Even Meta said that it will remove posts that break platform rules. However, despite warnings, the pages keep coming back. Also, fans were already emotional after the news of Mel Schilling’s passing. Hence, this timing made things worse. That’s why TikTok accounts circulated fake final messages using AI voices to mimic her. Moreover, the videos gained high numbers. That’s how the scammers earned money from people’s grief.
The scammers didn’t leave Jessica Redmayne too. They said the actress was battling cancer. Many of these posts had a link asking people to continue reading. And when anyone clicked they faced the risk of phishing attempts.
Channel 7 has been working to remove these pages. Hence, fans are asked to avoid clicking suspicious posts. For more Home and Away spoilers and updates, keep following Soap Opera Daily.