Urgent warning for eBay buyers: Scammers are trying to trick people into buying non-existent flowers that look like CATS, using cute images generated by AI

By William On May 2, 2024

As AI-generated images become more realistic, it can become more difficult to distinguish fake from real.

Unfortunately, it seems many online shoppers have been duped by the latest AI fraud: fake ‘cat’s eye dazzle’ seeds from China advertised on eBay.

AI-generated photos in the product listings pretend that the seeds grow into beautiful flowers that resemble cute cats, but in fact no such plant exists.

The seeds, described as ‘rare’, ‘organic’ and ‘non-GMO’, have been sold for more than €45 per pack.

Factcheck website Candy has discovered that the fake images are circulating widely on social media sites, including Facebook, Reddit and X.

People are buying fake cat’s eye dazzle seeds from China on eBay. AI-generated photos in the product listing suggest that the seeds grow into beautiful flowers that resemble cute cats, but no such plant exists

‘No returns accepted’: It’s unclear how many people were duped or exactly what they received in the mail after completing their purchase

The site – contacted by an observant internet user about the ‘seeds’ – has confirmed that the flowers are ‘fake’ and says no such plant exists.

It scanned the images with AI detection tools at aiornot.com and isitai.com to reveal they were created by AI, while Adobe Photoshop “may also have been used to modify the images.”

Furthermore, before this year, there was no legitimate data on flowers or plants called “cat’s eye dazzle,” according to Google data.

The imaginary plant is also not called Cryptanthus bivittatus, as a LinkedIn user and others claimed, which is actually a name taken from a real species that looks nothing like a cat.

According to Snopes, the photos were posted by Facebook user StorieSpot to a group called National Geographic Wild Planet.

The Facebook group has more than 1.4 million members, but despite the name, it is not affiliated with National Geographic, the American nature channel.

StorieSpot’s post received more than 80,000 likes and tens of thousands of shares on Facebook – and many users seemed interested in purchasing a pack.

One said, “I’d like to have these seeds,” while another simply said, “I WANT SOME SEEDS.”

Snopes found “hundreds” of completed or sold listings for the “seeds” at eBay with prices even going past $45 (£35).

It is unclear how many people were duped and what exactly they received in the mail after completing their purchase.

Snopes found ‘hundreds’ of completed or sold listings for the ‘seeds’ on eBay, with prices even topping $45 (£35)

The imaginary plant is also not called Cryptanthus bivittatus, as one LinkedIn user and others claimed, which is actually a name taken from a real species that looks nothing like a cat (photo)

According to Snopes, those who seemed to believe the flowers were real were “older in age.”

In addition to eBay, the flowers were reportedly offered for sale on imseeds.com, gardenerstar.com, Foundseed.com and dailyrosy.com – and domain registration information for these websites ‘points to China’.

False information also circulated on Reddit suggesting that the plant actually exists, although some users managed to dismiss this as nonsense.

One Reddit user said: ‘This AI junk is all over social media (especially Facebook) and thousands of people are eating it up, thinking it’s real.

“I don’t know why it makes me angry, but it does.”

Another said: ‘There are a lot of dishonest sellers selling generic wildflower seeds as fake plant seeds using AI generated images and Photoshop.

“These are about as real as blue strawberries or rainbow orange seeds.”

And an ill-informed

‘Cat’s eye dazzle’ should not be confused with true varieties of garden violets which are often sold with the word ‘cat’ in their name due to the cat-like appearance of the flowers (photo)

Real: Dracula simia’s remarkable orchard features an arrangement of columns, petals and lip that closely resembles a monkey’s face

‘Cat’s eye dazzle’ should not be confused with true varieties of garden violets which are often sold with the word ‘cat’ in their name because of the cat-like appearance of the flowers.

Even more remarkable is the Dracula simia orchard, which, with its arrangement of columns, petals and lip, closely resembles the face of a monkey.

MailOnline has discovered that seeds for these plant species – which are officially listed by the Royal Horticultural Society – are also being sold on eBay.

MailOnline has contacted eBay and Meta, Facebook’s parent company, for comment.

Have you ever wondered what Mona Lisa would look like when you rapped? Microsoft’s new AI tool can make images talk

The line between what is real and what is not is becoming increasingly thinner thanks to a new AI tool from Microsoft.

The technology, called VASA-1, transforms a still image of a person’s face into an animated clip of him or her talking or singing.

Lip movements are “excellently synchronized” with audio, making it seem as if the subject has come to life, the tech giant claims.

In one example, Leonardo da Vinci’s 16th century masterpiece “The Mona Lisa” begins rapping crudely in an American accent.

However, Microsoft admits that the tool “could be misused to impersonate a human” and is not releasing it to the public.