{"id":458180,"date":"2026-06-03T03:42:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T03:42:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/458180\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T03:42:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T03:42:10","slug":"auckland-ophthalmologist-victim-of-deepfake-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/458180\/","title":{"rendered":"Auckland ophthalmologist victim of deepfake video"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n \"Auckland
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Dr Divya Perumal in one of ReVisions genuine educational videos. Credit ReVision\/YouTube<\/p>\n


\n Auckland ophthalmologist victim of deepfake video <\/p>\n


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\n June 3, 2026
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\n
\n Drew Jones
\n \n <\/p>\n


\n <\/p>\n

Auckland-based ophthalmologist Dr Divya Perumal has been targeted in a social media deepfake video in which the surgeon appears to promote a \u2018sight-saving\u2019 product she had supposedly developed, and denounce the medical industry as \u201ca cartel\u201d.<\/p>\n

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Dr Perumal told NZ Optics she was alerted to the video in early May by a member of the public who noticed it appearing on Facebook. \u201cThe video made it appear that I am endorsing an unregulated eye medication. It claims this product is a \u2018miracle cure\u2019 for serious conditions like glaucoma, cataracts and dementia, often using fabricated negative comments about the medical and ophthalmic profession to drive sales. It is imperative to note that the system was not hacked and no patient data was at risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Seeing the video for the first time was a \u201cdeeply violating experience\u201d, said Dr Perumal. \u201cSeeing my own voice and face digitally manipulated to sell unregulated products is a direct assault on the years of trust I have built with my patients. It felt like my professional qualifications had been weaponised to facilitate a fraud. The AI images were so convincing that they easily bypassed our scam filters.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Dr Perumal said she suspects the people behind the video used generative AI to recreate her voice and image using material from Re:Vision\u2019s YouTube channel, where the practice has shared 117 educational videos.<\/p>\n

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The scam appears to be running primarily as paid Facebook advertisements, accessed when a person clicks on the advertisement and is redirected to an external URL, she explained. \u201cBecause these are \u2018dark ads\u2019, they do not appear on my public clinical pages or in public searches, making them very difficult to detect personally. I suspect the advertisements specifically target elderly patients with ocular disease in New Zealand.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Dr Perumal said she has had several enquiries from the public asking if the endorsement was real, and she\u2019s not even certain the product in the ad actually exists. \u201cFortunately, I am not aware of any patients successfully using this medication. I have heard from patients who attempted to buy the product, but their banks flagged and blocked the transactions as fraudulent. The company then encouraged the patients to send their credit card details, promising that the item was reserved for them and urging them to complete the purchase within a limited time. The risk to anxious or elderly patients \u2013 who may stop their prescribed, sight-saving treatments in favour of these \u2018miracle\u2019 products \u2013 is a significant public health concern,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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Facebook frustrations<\/p>\n

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Despite seeking help from New Zealand Police, Netsafe, Ophthalmology New Zealand (ONZ) and the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists (RANZCO), Dr Perumal told NBR\u2019s Mike McRoberts she had been unable to get the ad taken down by Facebook parent company Meta.<\/p>\n

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The experience with Meta has been incredibly frustrating for Dr Perumal. \u201cTheir automated reporting tools are built for standard copyright issues, not sophisticated deepfakes. We need a specific reporting tool for medical professionals whose identities are being hijacked for public harm.\u201d However, she said ONZ had been excellent in providing collegial support, while RANZCO had emailed the wider ophthalmology community to warn them about such scams. \u201cThe reputational stress of these attacks is significant and knowing the professional community supports me has helped.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Unfortunately, in the age of generative AI, every practitioner with a digital presence is at risk, said Dr Perumal. \u201cWe must move from individual defence to a model of\u00a0collective protection.\u201d Her advice to her peers is to:<\/p>\n

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Be the early warning system. If you see an advertisement featuring a colleague that looks suspicious, do not just scroll past. Reach out to that colleague immediately. Many of us are targeted by ads that we will never see on our own feeds; your quick screenshot or message could be the only reason a colleague discovers they are being impersonated.
\nFoster a culture of verification. Encourage your staff and patients to question any \u2018miracle\u2019 endorsements. If a patient asks about a product they saw a local doctor promoting on Facebook, treat it as a clinical red flag and report it.
\nUtilise our professional networks. Share these incidents early with the New Zealand Association of Optometrists, RANZCO or ONZ member forums. By documenting these scams collectively, we provide our professional bodies with the evidence they need to lobby for better protections from platforms such as Meta.
\nProvide emotional support. Having your professional identity hijacked is a deeply violating experience. If a peer is targeted, offer your support.<\/p>\n

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The\u00a0NBR story has significantly raised the profile of the saga, said Dr Perumal, and she is now talking with the Medical Council of New Zealand to table the issue officially.<\/p>\n

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Vigilance around such ads is not just protecting eyecare professionals\u2019 individual brands, said Dr Perumal. \u201cWe are protecting the integrity of the New Zealand eyecare profession. By acting as each other\u2019s advocates, we ensure that the trust our patients place in us remains unbreakable.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The fraud economy<\/p>\n

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Dr Perumal\u2019s experience reflects a wider challenge confronting digital platforms and advertisers. In an interview on writer Ricky Sutton\u2019s substack, US author and advertising commentator Bob Hoffman said online ad fraud continues largely unchecked. \u201cNobody ever gets prosecuted for it and we know ad fraud is somewhere around US$100 billion a year. Who\u2019s prosecuting? Who\u2019s in charge? The answer is no-one,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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While that overstates the case \u2013 US authorities have pursued some major botdriven ad fraud operations \u2013 enforcement remains patchy relative to the scale of the problem, particularly when scams operate across multiple jurisdictions using fake identities, cloned websites and paid \u2018dark ads\u2019 visible only to targeted users.<\/p>\n

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Industry analysts estimate digital ad fraud costs advertisers tens of billions of dollars annually, with Juniper Research forecasting losses could exceed US$170 billion by 2028. The issue is particularly uncomfortable for Meta, whose 2025 annual filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission showed advertising generated 97.6% ($196.18 billion) of its $200.97 billion total revenue.<\/p>\n

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