Kenya, Feb. 9 -- Centum Investment issues a warning to the public regarding fraudulent AI-generated YouTube advertisements impersonating its executives and promoting suspicious links.
The company has cautioned against engaging with such content and urged anyone who comes across it to report any suspicious activity.
On Saturday, the firm's chief executive, James Mworia, flagged the issue, stating that scammers are using AI to create deceptive YouTube ads that falsely associate him with suspicious links.
"It has come to my attention that fraudsters are impersonating me using AI-generated YouTube ads to promote suspicious links. Please note that I am not associated with these ads," Mworia stated.
He clarified that he had no connection to the promotions and warned that they were being used to mislead the public.
Mworia later confirmed that Centum's Tribus-TSG Cybersecurity team had traced the source of the fraudulent ads to a Cyprus-based fund.
"Our Tribus-TSG Cybersecurity team tracked the source to a Cyprus-based fund whose affiliate marketers used unethical methods, including impersonating me and the Centum brand," he said.
Investigations revealed that the fund's affiliate marketers had misused his name and Centum's brand in unauthorised advertisements.
Following internal enquiries, the fund issued a formal apology, admitting that some of its outsourced marketers operated with limited oversight.
In an email to Mworia, the fund's representative stated that the company had terminated its contract with the responsible affiliates and committed to strengthening compliance measures.
"This incident is a reminder of the importance of due diligence when outsourcing marketing. Let's all remain vigilant," Mworia noted.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Bana Kenya.