KINGSTON, Jamaica — A senior Jamaican government official has sounded the alarm over a deceptive new scam making the rounds across social media platforms, which leverages artificial intelligence to impersonate him and promote unvetted financial schemes. Delano Seiveright, State Minister for the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce, confirmed this week that the circulating clip is an unauthorized fabrication that misuses both his likeness and an AI-generated clone of his voice to mislead viewers.
Seiveright made clear that he holds no affiliation whatsoever with the video, the anonymous actors behind its creation and spread, or any investment opportunity, financial product, or service that the fraudulent content attempts to promote. In a public statement issued through his ministry, he emphasized that the deepfake video is entirely fraudulent and created without his knowledge or approval.
The warning extends to Jamaican residents and members of the Jamaican diaspora around the world, who Seiveright urged to practice heightened vigilance when encountering unsolicited online content that claims to carry his endorsement for any business or investment venture.
To protect members of the public from financial harm or identity theft, the ministry issued clear guidance: consumers should not send any money to parties associated with the clip, avoid sharing sensitive personal or financial details, and steer clear of clicking links or accessing contact information shared via the fraudulent video.
Officials confirmed that the incident has already been formally reported to both major social media platforms that are hosting the content and Jamaican law enforcement and regulatory authorities. Multiple ongoing efforts are now underway to take the fraudulent material down across all platforms and track down the individuals responsible for creating and distributing the deepfake.
The ministry is calling on any social media user who encounters the fake video to take immediate action: report the content to platform moderators, avoid sharing it with their own networks, and only seek out or verify official information via confirmed communication channels run by the Government of Jamaica and the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce.