Nigeria's SEC warns of AI deepfakes pushing fraudulent investment schemes across social media platforms

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has warned about an increase in investment scams utilizing artificial intelligence (AI). The regulator stated that deepfakes and AI-generated endorsements are being used by criminals to deceive unsuspecting ￰0￱ acts are perpetrated using manipulated content to create an illusion of ￰1￱ to the SEC, scammers are creating legitimate-looking digital versions of politicians, celebrities, and media personalities in order to promote unlicensed ￰2￱ videos are shared through Facebook ads, Instagram reels, and Telegram groups, making dubious projects seem ￰3￱ regulator noted that AI-powered deception has undermined conventional detection ￰4￱ testimonials often resemble genuine speech and body language, making it difficult for investors to distinguish between truth and ￰5￱ commission cautioned that offers promising no risk, regardless of how much you invest, with guaranteed returns or celebrity endorsements, are almost always a ￰6￱ are exploiting AI to fabricate endorsements and testimonials that appear ￰7￱ has made traditional fraud detection methods less effective.

Nigeria’s SEC SEC responds through cross-agency partnerships To combat this trend, the SEC is utilizing advanced surveillance systems that can detect fraud in ￰8￱ regulator said it is shifting from reactive to predictive oversight – supporting the identification of scams before they ￰9￱ between the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) has led to the implementation of more stringent monitoring ￰10￱ agencies are collaborating to mitigate systemic risks while engaging with social media companies to take down ￰11￱ SEC also issued a warning to influencers promoting unlicensed investment products, advising them that they may be subject to sanctions or ￰12￱ commission advised Nigerians to verify investment platforms on its official website, which contains the list of licensed capital market ￰13￱ have been advised to verify that company registration numbers match those listed on the SEC portal and to be cautious of platforms that only use WhatsApp or Telegram and have no verifiable office ￰14￱ AI-driven threats to global markets The alarm comes as financial markets across the globe are facing unprecedented levels of fraud tied to ￰15￱ the first half of 2025, AI crypto-related hacks and scams accounted for over $3.01 billion in stolen ￰16￱ to reports, attackers are analyzing social media, forums, and blockchain activity with the help of AI, finding potential victims based on their behavioral ￰17￱ 2024 alone, the ￰18￱ close to 160,000 fraud-related complaints related to ￰19￱ South Africa, AI scams have increased 1,200% over the last year, and the banking and fintech industries have been the worst affected, according to TransUnion Africa.

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