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Models Are Applying to Be the Face of AI Scams

Dozens of Telegram channels reviewed by WIRED include job listings for “AI face models.” The (mostly) women who land these gigs are likely being used to dupe victims out of their money. WIRED sent Telegram a list of two dozen jobs channels and recruitment channels that have advertised AI models, alongside other roles, in recent months. The company did not appear to remove any of the channels; however, a spokesperson says its policies do not allow scamming-related activity to take place. “Content that encourages or enables scams is explicitly forbidden by Telegram's terms of service and is removed whenever discovered,” a spokesperson for Telegram says. “In cases such as this, there are legitimate reasons one might give their likeness, and so such content must be examined on a case-by-case basis." This video features library footage throughout.

Released on 03/18/2026

Transcript

[Narrator] Scammers are recruiting people

to be the face of AI deepfake crimes,

and those people could also risk becoming

victims of scam compound criminal enterprises themselves.

Dozens of Telegram channels reviewed by WIRED

include job listings for AI face models.

The mostly women

who land these gigs are likely to be used

to dupe victims,

predominantly but not exclusively in the United States,

out of their money.

In one selfie-style video made for recruiters

viewed by WIRED,

a 24-year-old woman from Uzbekistan calling herself Angel

said she can speak English, Chinese,

Russian, and Turkish.

Angel had arrived in Cambodia that day, she said,

and was ready to start work.

Those impressive language skills,

however, have likely been put to use

as part of elaborate pig-butchering scams.

Angel was putting herself forward

to sit in front of a computer all day,

making deep fake video calls

to manipulate potential scam victims.

Her application,

which also required her height and weight,

says she has already clocked up one year as an AI model.

We reviewed dozens of recruitment videos

and job ads posted to Telegram that show people

from around the world,

including Turkey, Russia, Ukraine,

Belarus, and multiple Asian countries,

applying to be AI or real face models

in Cambodia and Southeast Asia.

The region has become home

to vast industrialized scamming operations

that hold thousands of human trafficking victims captive

and force them to run online cryptocurrency investment

and romance scams,

as well as tricking people into working in scam compounds,

these high tech, multi-billion dollar criminal enterprises,

and also attract people into seeking work

as part of the operations.

Job ads for AI models

or real face models reviewed by WIRED

demand excessive working hours,

offer little free time,

and require a relentless schedule,

some listing up to 150 potential calls per day.

Some job ads specifically state

they will take people's passports,

which is one of the main ways scam compound operations.

hold people captive.

Read the full story at WIRED.com.