Sweet Potato Warning

Sweet Potato during his trip to Japan in April.

On December 4th, YouTuber Khoai Lang Thang posted a warning on his personal page about fraudulent videos using artificial intelligence (AI) to mimic his voice and create images of him. According to Khoai, over the past week, dozens of people have been scammed by this page, constantly messaging and emailing him about the fake videos.

He stated that he had reported all related issues such as fraud, AI misuse, impersonation, copyright infringement, etc., but the platform had not taken decisive action. He appealed to the community to help report the video to prevent its spread.

"This video uses artificial intelligence to fake images and sounds; people should absolutely not believe the content in the video," he emphasized.

In the comments section, many viewers also pointed out the easily recognizable fake video. "You can tell it's AI right away because it doesn't look like Khoai at all," one person wrote. Another account suggested that anyone who has followed Khoai for a long time understands his natural, gentle, and approachable way of speaking, so a careful look is enough to know it's not Khoai.

Previously, the male travel blogger had also warned about fake online shopping sites, stating that he had reported them for weeks but received no action. He included links to the suspected scam sites or re-uploaded entire videos from his channel to alert viewers.

Khoai Lang Thang watched the snow fall in Japan earlier this year.

Khoai Lang Thang is not the only case of someone falling victim to fake AI. Recently, many celebrities such as Duc Phuc, Cat Tuong, Dam Thu Trang, My Tam, Ho Ngoc Ha, TV presenter Hoai Anh… have repeatedly spoken out when their images and voices were used illegally in fraudulent advertising videos.

In a post on November 14th, Ho Ngoc Ha stated that she was falsely associated with advertisements for household appliances and medicines, leading many people to mistakenly believe that the products were endorsed by her, resulting in purchases and ultimately "losing money and suffering harm."

Speaking to Tri Thức - Znews , lawyer Hoang Ha, from the Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association, stated that the use of AI technology, especially deepfakes, to impersonate celebrities is a long-standing problem that is difficult to completely eradicate. This causes double damage, seriously affecting both celebrities and the public.

For celebrities, the biggest damage from AI impersonation is to their reputation and image – values built over years, even entire careers. When their faces are associated with low-quality products, fraudulent investment calls, or misleading statements, their personal brand value is immediately affected.

Audiences are also direct victims, suffering significant losses because, due to their admiration and trust in celebrities, they have bought counterfeit or substandard goods or participated in fraudulent investment schemes and lost everything.

Khoai Lang Thang received the Content Creator of the Year award on November 29th in Ho Chi Minh City.

Khoai Lang Thang, whose real name is Dinh Vo Hoai Phuong, is 34 years old and hails from Ben Tre province. He graduated with a degree in Civil Engineering from Ton Duc Thang University in Ho Chi Minh City.

He used to work as a design engineer before switching to producing travel and food vlogs in 2017. The channel's name is derived from his childhood nickname, a mispronunciation of "Hoài Phương" in the Western Vietnamese accent.

On the evening of November 29th, at an awards ceremony in Ho Chi Minh City, he received the Content Creator of the Year award for the second consecutive year. His videos, which tell gentle stories, convey positive energy, and showcase local culture and people, have attracted a large following.

Currently, Khoai has over 3 million subscribers on YouTube, 2.8 million followers on TikTok, and over 3.5 million followers on Facebook.