Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak says YouTube ignored multiple takedown requests after his likeness was used in a bitcoin scam.
Wozniak’s warning comes amid a rise in AI-powered deepfake fraud targeting tech leaders.
Last week, a UK MP called for YouTube ads to face the same regulation as TV and radio advertising.
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has accused YouTube of failing to act against a Bitcoin scam that used his likeness, warning the same lax systems are now enabling a surge in global deepfake fraud.
“Some people said they lost their life savings,” Wozniak told CBS News. “That’s a crime. A good person, if you see a crime happening, you step in and try to stop it.”
Wozniak found out he had been impersonated in scam ads several years earlier and is still fighting a 2020 case in court against YouTube for its lack of action in taking down the content.
The Apple co-founder said he discovered the scam after his wife, Janet, received an email from a victim asking when they would get their money back.
The scammers had "actually taken video of Woz talking about Bitcoin," Janet explained. "Then they put a nice frame around it with a Bitcoin address, and said that if you sent him any amount of Bitcoin, he would send you double that back."
"Look at spam, look at the phishing attempts just all over the place," Wozniak said. "And there's not enough real, I don't know, muscle to fight it.
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