David Koch solves the latest ridiculous AI-generated image scam that left him beaten and bruised, and reveals a plan to sue
A furious David Koch has threatened legal action as scammers continue to use digitally altered images of him to defraud Australians.
The fed-up business journalist and former Sunrise presenter took to Twitter last week to share an AI-generated photo of himself looking bloodied and bruised.
Koch has tagged the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) in a desperate bid to combat the latest scam.
The digitally altered image shows Koch with two black eyes and a horrified face with the text: “This is the dark truth behind the incident.”
He told 2GBBen Fordham will look Monday at legal options against social media platforms that publish the fake ads.
David Koch is calling on the ACCC to take action after a fake news article appeared on social media last week
“I am so frustrated by this that I am exploring the possibility of defamation against social media platforms that run these ads because it harms me,” Kochie said angrily.
“People are misled into thinking, ‘I did this because you told me to.’
“It’s all a huge scam using high-profile people, causing serious damage to our reputation.”
He added that many Aussies have been sucked in by scams.
Koch recalled how a woman recently contacted him after coming across an ad featuring the TV star on a Bible app she used.
She clicked on the link and was scammed out of $10,000 in the process.
Koch wants social media platforms to be held more accountable for advertising, just like other traditional media platforms.
“It’s been happening for years, but now it’s getting out of hand,” Koch said.
“I report and report to all platforms. They tell me they took them down, but then they come back as a locus.”
‘I’m done with it. It’s damaging my reputation.’
‘These platforms must be held accountable. There is a duty of care that traditional media has to ensure people are not fooled, and that should be extended to the platforms.”
“If these digital platforms can prevent people from posting because they posted a rude photo or the content is offensive, why can’t they do the same with these ‘advertisements’?
David Koch (right), pictured with his former Sunrise co-host Nat Barr, is growing increasingly frustrated at being at the center of fake ads online
The longest-serving breakfast TV presenter in Australian history has become increasingly fed up with fraudsters using his photo in fake advertisements online as they try to lure thousands of Australians.
David Koch (pictured with his wife Libby) is considering taking defamation action against social media that publish ‘fake’ advertisements online
Koch has unknowingly been the face of countless scams over the years, promoting everything from erectile dysfunction pills and Bitcoin investments to fake cryptocurrency trading apps and kitchen countertops.
The online scams have appeared everywhere from real estate and news websites to even weather apps.
At least one Australian woman lost $150,000 of her savings, while another man recently lost $30,000 in seconds.
Koch has previously told how he was scrolling through properties on a real estate website when he came across a fake advert with a digitally altered photo of him surrounded by police with the headline: ‘Thousands flock to ATMs after Kochie’s arrest’.
Days earlier, Koch also spoke about a “damn nasty” death hoax after criminals used his image and fake news about his death to defraud people of thousands of dollars.
He was bombarded with ‘tributes’ while on leave from Sunrise when a Twitter post announcing his death went viral.
The tweet came from a hacked account and contained a link directing users to a cryptocurrency scam featuring fraudulent celebrity endorsements purportedly from Koch, billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates and others.
At the time of his ‘death’, the Port Adelaide Power chairman was in Adelaide with his family enjoying AFL’s first Gather Round.