In a video, a voice that sounds like President Joe Biden’s announced that “free money” worth $5,200 is up for grabs. All you need to do is click a link.
“Listen up, folks. The new Congress-approved bill gives Americans $5,200. Almost everyone is eligible for this free money, but most people have no idea how easy it is to register and claim,” the Biden-like voice said.
If that sounds like a scam, that’s because it is.
The video in a Nov. 29 Facebook post featured the CNN logo, with a “breaking news” chyron that reads, “Biden approves $5,200 for Americans older than 25.” The caption features a different figure. It said: “This government subsidy program is here to help, offering eligible Americans $6854.”
(Screenshot from Facebook)
This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)
We searched Google, the Nexis news database, White House transcripts and other government websites and found no record of Biden announcing this, nor did we find any statements from the administration confirming such a subsidy. We also found no reports from CNN or any other news outlet about Biden announcing either a $5,200 or $6,854 subsidy.
The post included a link to the page, “inspiredwellbeing.today,” which is not government-affiliated. The video also ran as an ad on Meta platforms Facebook and Instagram from Dec. 1 to Dec. 3, with a disclaimer that said it was paid for by the “Procare Assurance Group.”
In its contact information, that group listed patriotdemocracy.com as its affiliated website. “Not connected with or endorsed by the U.S. government or the federal Medicare program,” reads a disclaimer at the bottom of that website.
Hany Farid, an electrical engineering and computer sciences professor at the University of California, Berkeley, told PolitiFact that an analysis using a model trained to distinguish between real and AI-generated voices classified the audio as “fake.” Farid said that the cadence of the voice was a telltale sign that AI generated the audio.
“AI-generated voices tend to have a regular cadence without a lot of variation in the spacing between words — that is, somewhat robotic. Human speech, on the other hand, tends to have more variations with occasional disfluencies,” he said.
We’ve fact-checked multiple claims about government subsidies supposedly worth thousands that are not government subsidies at all.
Avoid clicking any links that report “breaking news” that sounds like Biden announcing he has approved a $5,200 subsidy for Americans older than 25. He did not; that claim is False.
