AI Fakes the Founder and Keeps the Money

A video appeared on Instagram a few weeks ago: a granddaughter describing how her grandfather spent decades hand-stitching leather bags in a small workshop, his life’s work now available online for a limited time. The imagery was warm, the narration emotional, the backstory complete. ABC News identified dozens of similar operations across TikTok and YouTube, each using generative AI to manufacture founders, fake factory footage and synthetic brand narratives to move l