Eaton County Sheriff warns of new scam using AI-generated photos of deputies, Bitcoin demands

EATON COUNTY, Mich. (News 10) - Scammers are finding new and sophisticated ways to target mid-Michigan residents, turning to artificial intelligence and local phone spoofing to steal money, according to Eaton County Sheriff Tom Reich. In a Facebook post on Saturday, Reich alerted the community that fraudsters are calling residents from numbers designed to appear as local Eaton County phone lines. In some cases, scammers are pairing the calls with AI-generated images of fake sheriff’s deputies standing next to cryptocurrency machines, visually instructing victims to deposit funds into Bitcoin ATMs. Investigators pointed out one key visual giveaway in the synthetic images: the AI-generated deputy is depicted wearing the wrong-colored uniform, inconsistent with official Eaton County Sheriff’s Office gear.

First reported by WILX. This page is a short excerpt; the full text is theirs.