Scams

Reporting

Meta is *still* running thousands of ads for AI nudifiers

Jan 21, 2026

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10 min read

Meta is still running thousands of ads for AI nudifiers

But hey, at least some of them appear to be scams that can’t be used to undress

Alexios Mantzarlis

Reporting

Scam ads are flooding social media. These former Meta staffers have a plan

Nov 6, 2025

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10 min read

Scam ads are flooding social media. These former Meta staffers have a plan

Rob Leathern and Rob Goldman, who both worked at Meta, are launching a new nonprofit that aims to add transparency to an increasingly opaque, scam-filled social media ecosystem.

Craig Silverman

TikTok

Oct 30, 2025

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8 min read

TikTok sympathy scams use racial slurs and insults to sell products

TikTok removed close to 200 accounts after Indicator reached out

Craig Silverman

Briefing: X tests new way to fight inauthentic activity and a major scam takedown

Oct 17, 2025

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12 min read

Briefing: X tests new way to fight inauthentic activity and a major scam takedown

Plus: a new free OSINT bookmarklet that helps you investigate WordPress sites

Craig Silverman, +1

Aid workers looking for jobs on LinkedIn face spammy websites, scammy recruiters, and sham listings

Sep 4, 2025

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2 min read

Aid workers looking for jobs on LinkedIn face spammy websites, scammy recruiters, and sham listings

LinkedIn deleted 27 pages with almost 6 million followers

Alexios Mantzarlis

AI slop

Briefing: AI comes for fashion and a tool for guessing email addresses

Aug 29, 2025

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9 min read

Briefing: AI comes for fashion and a tool for guessing email addresses

Plus: The game that helps inoculate people against vaccine misinformation

Craig Silverman, +1

Reporting

Hundreds of Meta ads with fake virus alerts tricked people into downloading suspicious apps

Jul 24, 2025

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2 min read

Hundreds of Meta ads with fake virus alerts tricked people into downloading suspicious apps

The ads falsely told people that their phone had been infected with viruses, was compromised by hackers, or that their Facebook account would be permanently disabled.

Craig Silverman

Briefing: Scammers use deepfakes to impersonate police and a free guide to AI red teaming

Jul 18, 2025

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7 min read

Briefing: Scammers use deepfakes to impersonate police and a free guide to AI red teaming

Plus: how therapy chatbots fuel delusions, and X tries to explain Grok's Nazi turn

Craig Silverman, +1

Reporting

Jul 7, 2025

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1 min read

TikTok has a celebrity giveaway scams problem

An organized network of accounts is using TikTok to get tens of thousands of leads for an advance fee scam

Alexios Mantzarlis

AI slop

Amazon is selling hundreds of seemingly AI-generated biographies for children

Jun 11, 2025

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2 min read

Amazon is selling hundreds of seemingly AI-generated biographies for children

Gather around kids, time to to learn about “Genshis Khan” from a “whiite lady”

Alexios Mantzarlis

Facebook

Jun 9, 2025

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4 min read

OSINT case study: How a single Facebook Marketplace ad helped uncover a network of scam domains

Let's dive into domain-generating algorithms and connecting websites via shared URLs, html titles, and favicons

Craig Silverman

Content moderation

The top Community Notes contributor is...an antivirus startup?

May 26, 2025

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2 min read

The top Community Notes contributor is...an antivirus startup?

I thought someone was gaming X’s crowdsourced moderation; instead, they appear to be helping clean up the platform’s mess for free.

Alexios Mantzarlis

OSINT

A global scam network used fake reviews to lure customers. Here’s how you can investigate them

May 19, 2025

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7 min read

A global scam network used fake reviews to lure customers. Here’s how you can investigate them

Google told Indicator it has referred the Pakistan-based network to the DOJ, and TrustPilot deleted reviews after we reached out

Craig Silverman

Health and wellness

Apr 16, 2025

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11 min read

Doubling down on denialism

Executive orders seek to dissuade denialism debunkers; Tariff AI memes get 31 million views; and deepfake Sydney Sweeney sells boost gummies

Alexios Mantzarlis

Deepfake images

OpenAI says "f**k it, we're doing impersonation now"

Apr 2, 2025

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14 min read

OpenAI says "f**k it, we're doing impersonation now"

OpenAI wants a cut of the deepfake disinfo market; TikTok job-bait accounts target would-be emigrants; and Meta is still running ads for AI nudifiers

Alexios Mantzarlis

AI nudifiers

More people saw these AI-generated ED "remedies" than read The New York Times

Mar 19, 2025

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9 min read

More people saw these AI-generated ED "remedies" than read The New York Times

AI videos flog bogus erectile dysfunction cures to millions on TikTok; deepfake detectors fail latest test; and Meta ran 660 more ads for AI nudifiers.

Alexios Mantzarlis

Reporting

TikTok creators masquerade as Spanish-language media to spread ID misinformation

Mar 5, 2025

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12 min read

TikTok creators masquerade as Spanish-language media to spread ID misinformation

Fake Telemundo and Univision scaremonger on TikTok. Plus: Kendall Jenner is the top of an elaborate diet pill scam

Alexios Mantzarlis

AI slop

Feb 26, 2025

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15 min read

Why is Musk mad about Community Notes?

Musk says Community Notes are "being gamed"; AI slop is the lure for a scam operation; and TikTok videos kill Pope Francis.

Alexios Mantzarlis

Scams

YouTube takes down bogus billionaire bracelet ads

Dec 11, 2024

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21 min read

YouTube takes down bogus billionaire bracelet ads

Plus: Britons pour milk down the drain, and Romanian NGOs call for more data from platforms

Alexios Mantzarlis

Elon Musk is a magnet as well as a megaphone for misinformation

Dec 4, 2024

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16 min read

Elon Musk is a magnet as well as a megaphone for misinformation

racking the Tesla Phone hoax across platforms, majorities around the world think platforms should moderate false content, and BlueSky starts banning dupes

Alexios Mantzarlis

Scams

Meta is *still* running thousands of ads for AI nudifiers

Scam ads are flooding social media. These former Meta staffers have a plan

TikTok sympathy scams use racial slurs and insults to sell products

Briefing: X tests new way to fight inauthentic activity and a major scam takedown

Aid workers looking for jobs on LinkedIn face spammy websites, scammy recruiters, and sham listings

Briefing: AI comes for fashion and a tool for guessing email addresses

Hundreds of Meta ads with fake virus alerts tricked people into downloading suspicious apps

Briefing: Scammers use deepfakes to impersonate police and a free guide to AI red teaming

TikTok has a celebrity giveaway scams problem

Amazon is selling hundreds of seemingly AI-generated biographies for children

OSINT case study: How a single Facebook Marketplace ad helped uncover a network of scam domains

The top Community Notes contributor is...an antivirus startup?

A global scam network used fake reviews to lure customers. Here’s how you can investigate them

Doubling down on denialism

OpenAI says "f**k it, we're doing impersonation now"

More people saw these AI-generated ED "remedies" than read The New York Times

TikTok creators masquerade as Spanish-language media to spread ID misinformation

Why is Musk mad about Community Notes?

YouTube takes down bogus billionaire bracelet ads

Elon Musk is a magnet as well as a megaphone for misinformation

Meta is still running thousands of ads for AI nudifiers