Oct 3 (Reuters) - A group of suspected scammers in

Brazil using Instagram ads featuring deepfakes of supermodel

Gisele Bundchen and other celebrities appears to have made

millions of dollars through online fraud, according to police

investigators.

Authorities arrested four suspects tied to the scheme this

week and froze assets across five states in an investigation

that found over 20 million reais ($3.9 million) in suspicious

funds identified by federal anti-money laundering organ COAF.

The operation marks one of the first attempts in Brazil to

counter the growing use of artificial intelligence tools to

manipulate images and videos of celebrities for online scams.

Brazil's Supreme Court ruled in June that social media

platforms can be held liable for criminal ads posted by users if

they fail to act swiftly to remove the content, even without a

court order.

Instagram owner Meta said that its policies forbid

"ads that deceptively use public figures to try to scam people,"

and that it removes such ads "when detected." The company added

in a statement that it has "specialized systems to detect

celeb-bait, invests heavily in trained review teams, shares tips

on avoiding scams and offers tools to report potential

violations."

Bundchen did not respond to a request for comment. She

previously warned followers about fake videos circulating on

social media using her image to perpetrate scams.

The probe announced this week by police investigators in the

southern state of Rio Grande do Sul began in August 2024 after a

victim reported being misled by an Instagram ad showing an

altered video of Bundchen promoting a skincare product.

Another ad used the supermodel's likeness to promise a

giveaway of suitcases, with buyers paying shipping fees for

items that never arrived.

"We identified that the criminal group carried out a series

of other scams, involving deepfakes of other celebrities and

false betting platforms," Eibert Moreira Neto, head of Rio

Grande do Sul's cybercrime unit, told Reuters.

Investigators are pursuing charges of money laundering and

online fraud. They noted that most victims lost small amounts,

usually under 100 reais ($19), and did not report the crimes.

"That created a perverse situation in which the criminals

enjoyed a kind of 'statistical immunity.' They knew most people

would not report them, so they operated at scale without fear,"

Isadora Galian, from the cybercrime unit, said in a statement.