The Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria, ARCON, has warned Nigerians against a fake artificial intelligence generated investment advertisement circulating on Facebook and using the images of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Minister of Finance, Taiwo Oyedele, and Chairman of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, to solicit funds from members of the public. The regulator said the advert promotes a purported Naira Refinery Investment Fund with unrealistic promises of returns and was designed to mislead and defraud unsuspecting Nigerians.
According to ARCON Director General, Olalekan Fadolapo, preliminary investigations showed that the advertisement was generated using artificial intelligence and was not authorised by Tinubu, Oyedele or Dangote. He clarified that none of the three personalities endorsed or authorised the use of their images for the investment scheme. ARCON also stressed that the purported Naira Refinery Investment Fund should not be confused with the Dangote Refinery Initial Public Offering currently ongoing in the Nigerian capital market.
The regulator said the advertisement was neither submitted to nor approved by the Advertising Standards Panel as required under the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria Act No. 23 of 2022. ARCON explained that its pre exposure vetting system is designed to prevent misleading, false and unsubstantiated advertising from reaching the Nigerian public. The council said it would take necessary legal action against platform owners, advertisers and advertising agencies involved in exposing Nigerians to unethical advertisements.
The development highlights the growing challenge posed by generative AI and deepfake technology in digital advertising, particularly as fraudsters increasingly use manipulated images, voices and videos to give fraudulent schemes an appearance of legitimacy. ARCON has also mandated a special monitoring and enforcement task force to track advertisements across digital platforms and identify non compliant materials. Nigerians have been urged to treat investment offers promising unusually high or guaranteed returns with caution and verify the legitimacy of investment platforms before committing their money. The Securities and Exchange Commission has similarly warned Nigerians against unregistered online investment schemes and advised investors to verify the registration status of investment operators before transacting with them.