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🤖 AI Scammers Hijack Business Identity

• Paul Barlow

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This episode outlines the struggle of a jeweller, Deanna Newman, whose legitimate business, C'est la vie Jewellery, was targeted by AI scammers who copied her business name to defraud customers. Operating out of China but claiming to be a Birmingham-based entity, the scam damaged Ms. Newman's reputation as customers mistook her genuine products for low-quality, mass-shipped items sold by the fraudsters. Ms. Newman faced continuous aggressive complaints and refund demands, forcing her to publicly clarify her separation from the scam and even leading customers to offer her sympathy based on the scam's fake narrative about a deceased husband. Despite the emotional distress and a drop in sales due to customer mistrust, Ms. Newman has refused to change her business name, instead undertaking significant effort to redesign her website to distinguish her brand. The article notes this type of identity theft is increasingly common, with AI tools enabling fraudsters to mislead the public on an unprecedented scale.