Scammers using AI to lure shoppers to fake businesses
OCT 8 - Unscrupulous foreign firms are using AI-generated images and false back stories to pose as family-run UK businesses to lure in shoppers. Customers Kenya breaking news | Kenya news today |..
✨ Key Highlights
Foreign firms are using AI-generated images and fabricated backstories to impersonate legitimate UK businesses, scamming shoppers into buying cheap goods while believing they are supporting independent boutiques. Customers have reported feeling "completely ripped off" after receiving low-quality items from East Asian warehouses instead of the promised artisanal products.
- Over 500 one-star reviews on Trustpilot detail complaints of high prices for cheaply made goods and exorbitant return fees.
- Websites like C'est La Vie, claiming to be a 29-year-old family business in Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter, have China as their returns address.
- A professor of Artificial Intelligence at the University of Birmingham noted the AI-generated images are "a little bit too perfect and staged to be real."
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Google Offers AI Tools in Kenya, Scammers Use AI to Impersonate Businesses, & Indian App Challenges WhatsApp - October 2025
Google is offering Kenyan university students one year of free access to its premium AI tools, including Gemini 2.5 Pro and 2 terabytes of cloud storage, as part of an educational program across six African countries. In a different application of technology, foreign firms are using AI-generated images and fabricated backstories to impersonate legitimate UK businesses and scam shoppers. Customers reported receiving low-quality items from East Asian warehouses instead of artisanal products. In the app market, an Indian-made messaging app called Arattai, developed by Zoho, has seen a sudden surge in popularity, challenging WhatsApp's dominance in India. This rise is linked to the Indian government's push for self-reliance.
