If you’re an avid Facebook user and you’re over 50, beware of “trap boomers.” In recent months, Mark Zuckerberg’s social network has been flooded with spectacular and touching publications specially designed to trap seniors. These images, created from scratch by artificial intelligence, play on credulity and emotion to increase sharing among the oldest members of the platform.
One of these posts, for example, shows a man who sculpted stunningly realistic statues of his parents for 3 years. We can also see a 103-year-old grandfather posing in front of a birthday cake he made, worthy of a pastry chef. Or a young shepherdess with the face of a model whose legend says that she will never have as many likes as Lady Gaga but that she loves her work and animals…
All of these posts are associated with inspiring messages. They ride on nostalgia, respect for elders and celebrate the fact that things were better before. Under each photo, hundreds of comments help make them go viral. Caught up in emotion, most Internet users do not seem to notice the inconsistency of these images and see no problem in adding a comment on their behalf. However, this is where the trap closes.
Advertisements, fraudulent and grazing merchant sites
Behind these pages, we often find ill-intentioned Internet users who seek to set up Facebook groups bringing together unsuspecting people. The goal is then to send them to sites filled with advertisements. These communities can also be resold to third parties, who will expose them to fraudulent merchant sites, false calls for donations or false financial platforms.
This technique is not new but the arrival of artificial intelligence and the functioning of Facebook’s algorithms allows them to generate very engaging content without much effort. These scammers also take advantage of the fact that Facebook users have a higher average age than on other social networks and are therefore potentially less familiar with good digital practices.
Internet users who comment and share these images can also become a prime target for grazers. These experts in romance scams will approach them with a fake Facebook profile, then manipulate them by staging a long-distance romance to try to extract money from them.
There are signs to spot these traps
One thing is certain: with the rapid progress of artificial intelligence, the trend is not about to reverse. Today, anyone can generate ultra-realistic fake images and share them on social media.
To combat this phenomenon, European law plans to require platforms to add a digital marker to these synthetic images so that they are more easily spotted by Internet users. But this tool is far from being the norm today. This is why it is important to exercise caution when interacting with online content.
Finally, know that it is possible to spot these traps. Even though they are becoming more and more sophisticated, certain details can raise eyebrows, such as anatomical defects on the fingers or teeth, for example. We must also assume that a spectacular or touching photo that has hundreds of shares on Facebook has a good chance of being a clickbait today.
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Find (the inimitable) “Golden Rule” podcast every week… and from now on its Digital counterpart dedicated to everyday problems online. How to browse the Internet safely? What settings should you configure to protect your personal data? How to spot online scams before falling for them… Benjamin Hue, journalist at RTL, answers here the questions you ask yourself every day about new technologies.
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