Gareth Wyn Jones, known for his role in The Family Farm, has fallen victim to a £2,000 deepfake scam. The 58-year-old influencer revealed that he was targeted by an AI extortion scheme, where he received a manipulated video of himself engaged in intimate activities with an unidentified woman.

The hill farmer shared that he was threatened with the release of the video online unless he paid the demanded sum. Despite the pressure, Gareth stood firm and refused to comply, opting to take legal action against the perpetrators.

Describing the ordeal as “very frightening,” the BBC personality aims to caution others about such fraudulent activities. He emphasized the importance of resilience, admitting that he could have succumbed to the demands if he had been more vulnerable.

The blackmailers threatened Gareth with the exposure of fabricated content on social media platforms and to his family, pressuring him to make the payment. However, the steadfast farmer, residing in north Wales with his family, rebuffed the threats and vowed to combat the situation legally.

Gareth, renowned as “the nation’s favorite farmer,” clarified that the fraudulent incident stemmed from an online interaction regarding goat sales. The situation escalated when he was coerced into paying a significant sum to prevent the spread of the counterfeit video.

Acknowledging the unreal nature of the AI-generated material, Gareth highlighted that similar scams have targeted others as well. In response, he issued a cautionary message on his social media platforms to alert people about the dangers of falling victim to such deceptive practices.

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