An Ohio man, Ronnie Flint, recently fell victim to an elaborate scam that used artificial intelligence to impersonate country music star Jelly Roll. Flint described how he received deepfake videos through Facebook Messenger that made him believe he was genuinely communicating with the singer. “I really thought it was Jelly Roll,” he told WDTN-TV. The scammers sent him a message claiming he had won $50,000, along with videos and even a fake driver’s license that appeared to belong to the artist. This detail drew Flint in further. “When they sent the second video where he actually said my full name, that got me,” he recounted. “I was like, wow, it really is Jelly Roll.”
However, there was a catch. The scammer requested that Flint cover shipping costs to claim his winnings. Living on a fixed income, Flint sent the scammers $70 in Apple gift cards, despite informing them of his financial situation. “You know, this is all the money that I have for the rest of the month,” he noted. A family member alerted him to the possibility that he had been scammed, which led Flint to file a police report. Still, the demands for additional money didn’t stop. “They’re thinking I’m going to send them another $30 on the 3rd, which ain’t going to happen,” Flint said.
Determined to warn others, Flint shared his experience with local media. “That’s why I called you guys, because I want to put it out there because maybe somebody else already fell for it,” he explained. “I don’t want them to fall for it the way I did.” His story highlights a growing trend among Jelly Roll’s fans who have encountered similar scams. In a Facebook group dedicated to the artist, one member cautioned others, saying, “Be careful I have been scammed by someone using the name Jelly Roll.” Others expressed frustration over the difficulty of distinguishing real accounts from fake ones.
Despite the distress caused by these scams, Jelly Roll has yet to publicly respond to the misuse of his likeness. As deepfake technology advances rapidly, the potential for individuals to be misled by such scams increases. As reported by WIRED earlier this year, scams can range from trivial requests to elaborate schemes that leave victims feeling betrayed. “Only after it’s too late, you realize that the person you were talking to was in fact not real at all,” the publication noted.
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