A deepfake in which Montenegrin Government minister of spatial planning, urbanism and state property, Slaven Radunović, allegedly advertises a cream for a foot-fungus treatment has appeared on social media. The video is an excerpt of Radunović being interviewed for the public broadcasting services with an altered voiceover. The tone of voice seems inseparable from Radunović’s who is a known figure in Montenegro. However, the nuances of Balkan Slavic languages are hard to grasp for a non-native speaker, which probably explains why Radunović, a Serbian minority representative in Montenegro, in the video “speaks” Croatian.
Have you ever had to treat a foot fungus? If you did, you know how stubborn and persistent it can be. Foot fungus is slow to heal and almost as irritating as health scam ads promising quick fixes. The latest such attempt is a deepfake video on social media platforms of Montenegrin Government minister Slaven Radunović “recommending” a miraculous foot-fungus treatment.
Let us look at the video and see why we are sceptical about the product and the ad.
Do you remember the name of the cream? Was it Micoherb or Mikoherb? If you missed it, especially if you are not a native speaker, is no wonder, but if a person who is “advertising” it uses different versions and doesn’t know the name of the product indeed is unexpected.
The name of the cream resonated with the Debunk team not because we are fighting foot fungus, but as we analyzed similarly persistent health scam schemes operating in the Balkan region for years. Healthcare products - teas, gels, pills- were and still are sold using complex Facebook profiles and website networks. One of the products sold via this network was also the cream Mikoherb. The full report on Mikoherb and other magical products, including teas promising to “cure the diabetes”, can be found here and in the video, you will see some of the main findings.
The threat actor(s) behind this deepfake remain unidentified. They are connected to the network that we analyzed in 2023. The companies, Facebook pages and ads we dealt with last year were run from Bosnia and Herzegovina covering the Balkan region but at that point, we also knew that this was just a branch of a larger international scam scheme.
The behaviour is also different. The previous analysis showed a lot of effort was put into mimicking authentic Facebook pages and groups, while this particular deepfake was sponsored by a relatively new Facebook page with no content.
Unlike the network we have analyzed and proven it was based in the Balkans, the only administrator of the page that shared the ad is based in Ukraine. Another difference is that the “Balkan Facebook pages” never boosted their content, unlike this one shared as an ad.
What is the effect of one deepfake ad is hard to say, but according to the testimonies of the users we spoke to for the last analysis - the products affect only “the wallet” and not the health condition they are supposed to treat.
The mistakes in the video seemed obvious to the analysts, however, the comment section proves us wrong - after redacting all of the inappropriate language, the screenshot resembles piano keys. A large number of social media users are unaware that the content is altered and an even larger number spread hate speech, which although a topic for another report, also points to an urgent need for an increase in digital literacy.