On October 2nd, Illinois resident Emily Miller (emilythinksaloud) was enjoying the Northwestern Football Game with her family on what they thought was the official broadcast on the Fox News YouTube channel. So when an odd cryptocurrency ad featuring Donald Trump came up, it sent them on a spiral that she then shared on Instagram.
In a post that already has over 739K views, she described her concern in the caption, writing, “this is deeply, deeply disturbing. and I feel like it needs to be news? who can we tag????” She started her video in the kitchen. After talking about the game and how they found the ad, she shared a clip of the same. Her camera panned to show a TV where, on the screen, Trump looked like he was standing in the White House in front of multiple flags.
Under him is a large banner that reads, “Scan or regret” alongside a QR code. The Trump in the video speaks steadily, but lacks all his usual mannerisms. He says, “Not because it was impossible, but because no one had the courage to believe it could be done by Americans for Americans with American values at its core.”
An increasing number of scams are using Trump’s name and features
Emily said, ‘Trump’ claimed, “This is not a scheme. It is not a bubble. It is not a gimmick wrapped in flag pins and patriotic slogans. This is a smart contract. Self-executing. Immutable. Audited by the finest American cybersecurity engineers. Verified by independent U.S-based blockchain forensic firms, and recorded on a public permissionless ledger that can….”
Emily comes back on screen and alleged, “It was extremely odd. It went on for four minutes. And I followed the QR code.” She then edited in the screencapture of her following the QR link. It led to a website filled with photos of the President, all designed to push a cryptocurrency giveaway. She noted that as they talked, her husband and oldest daughter quickly realized what was wrong with the video.
Emily told her viewers, “They started noticing things. He doesn’t stutter. He doesn’t move as he usually does. Nothing in the video is moving. So we go online, and we research it, and it’s not Trump. It’s actually a deepfake video of Trump, as a scam to have people sell their crypto. To give their crypto back to the scammers. thinking that you’re giving it to Trump for his new American patriotic cryptocurrency.”
“And so then we were like, why would this be on Fox News?” Emily noted. “And it wasn’t Fox News. It was a scam Fox News on YouTube. And all this happened tonight. And I am completely freaked out. This feels absolutely like dystopian hell.”
The comments on her post reflected a growing anxiety regarding AI technology. One user noted, “I am not very good at recognizing AI (just very suspicious all the time now) but I immediately clocked this as fake. It’s so weird, the cadence + tone is almost like Trump + Biden mixed together. wtf.” Another user warned of the broader danger, stating, “I saw the same thing.I knew it was AI but most people wouldn’t be able to tell. It’s very dangerous.”
According to Cloudflare, the rise of cryptocurrency has provided threat actors with new avenues for fraud. Sophisticated groups are now using deepfake technology and credible-looking websites to exploit the Fear of Missing Out surrounding the crypto market.
The outlet noted that the FBI has reported losses exceeding $5.6 billion in 2023 due to such scams. These operations often use “crypto drainers,” which are malicious tools designed to empty digital wallets once a victim approves a fraudulent transaction.
In May, the DOJ indicted two North Macedonian citizens, Goran Spiridonov and Kristina Janeva, over the misuse of Trump’s image. The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York recently announced that they are accused of a fraudulent scheme involving the sale of “Trump Bucks,” which were marketed as a form of legal tender affiliated with the President.
U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton stated, “As alleged, the defendants created a fictitious financial instrument and marketed it to Americans around the country under the false pretense that ‘Trump Bucks’ was affiliated with the funding of President Trump’s re-election campaign and other causes associated with the President and the Trump Organization. That cannot be further from the truth.”
Published: Oct 5, 2026 04:56 am