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‘We detected unusual activity’: the scam that uses AI to exploit your holiday photos

The Guardian · 🇬🇧 public United Kingdom · · 634 words · By Shane Hickey
Cybersecurity/Phishing AI and Privacy
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What to know about Cybersecurity/Phishing

You are on a short break in Porto and post some pictures of your family on Instagram or Facebook.

Claims checked 7
Techniques found 2
Topics 2

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Right coverage
Left14%
Center86%
Right0%

7 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

You are on a short break in Porto and post some pictures of your family on Instagram or Facebook.

Why it matters

With a small section of the Douro river in the background, you think it could have been taken anywhere.

Common ground

A few days later, you get a text saying that your card was compromised.

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language, Appeal to Fear: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.theguardian.com/money/2026/aug/16/scam-ai-holiday-photos-instagram-f…

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 2 propaganda techniques in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning
Loaded Language 60% confidence
Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.
Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.
Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.
warning
Appeal to Fear 70% confidence
Building support by instilling anxiety or panic in the audience.
Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.
Why it matters: Recognizing appeal to fear helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 7 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 5
info Single Source 2
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Claim 1: “Vonny Gamot, the head of EMEA at McAfee.”
CORROBORATED
Three independent sources (The Mirror, IFA Magazine, and a scam-related report) identify Vonny Gamot as the Head of EMEA at McAfee.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — The company says that it shows that computers don’t need photos to be tagged or attached metadata to identify where they are taken. “What AI does is give context … so that makes the scam [and] makes t…
https://www.aol.co.uk/articles/detected-unusual-activity-sca…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — "It is a sign of the times we’re living in, that people are spending the equivalent of a full work week each year just deciphering whether scam messages are real or not,” said Vonny Gamot, Head of EME…
https://www.mirror.co.uk/tech/gmail-email-warning-new-scams-…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — By Vonny Gamot, Head of EMEA at McAfee.McAfee’s tips for staying safe during major online outages: Be skeptical of unsolicited messages. Whether it’s a text, email, or call, don’t share personal infor…
https://ifamagazine.com/when-the-cloud-crashes-mcafees-vonny…
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Claim 2: “New research has shown that by picking up on details in the picture – such as the background, the architecture, the signage or the light – the AI agent can pinpoint where it was taken.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results confirm that AI can pinpoint locations by analyzing visual details such as architectural styles, textures, and environmental clues without relying on GPS.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — It turns pixels into mathematical "fingerprints" that capture architectural styles, textures, and environmental clues, enabling precise location matching even under different lighting or angles.
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/davidregaladodataengineer_ai-…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — How our AI photo location finder worksEXIF GPS: Instantly detects GPS data in your photo if available.Visual AI: Analyzes the image to identify the location even without GPS.
https://findpiclocation.com/
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Sign Up. Find Photo Location From Any Image.Fast and Agent mode work best with images that show clear landscapes and readable texts. Event mode works best with specific incident details and relevant w…
https://geoseeer.com/
info
Claim 3: “When a staff member tested ChatGPT to identify a picture of a river with some trees in the foreground, it correctly pinpointed it as Hastings-on-Hudson, an area in New York state.”
SINGLE SOURCE
While the general capability of ChatGPT is verified, the specific anecdote about a staff member testing a photo of a river in Hastings-on-Hudson is not corroborated by the provided evidence search results.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Use ChatGPT to answer questions, write, create images, complete work, and code—all in one place. Get started for free or download the app.
https://chatgpt.com/
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Use ChatGPT to answer questions, write, create images, complete work, and code—all in one place. Get started for free or download the app.
https://chatgpt.com/features
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Nov 30, 2022 · We’ve trained a model called ChatGPT which interacts in a conversational way. The dialogue format makes it possible for ChatGPT to answer followup questions, admit its mistakes, challen…
https://openai.com/index/chatgpt/
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Claim 4: “The company says that it shows that computers don’t need photos to be tagged or attached metadata to identify where they are taken.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources (GeoAxis, Oceanir, GeoInfer) and the context of the McAfee study confirm that AI can identify locations from pixels alone without the need for EXIF, GPS, or metadata.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Upload any photo. AI identifies where it was taken in seconds - no GPS, no EXIF, no metadata. Try GeoAxis. Contact us.How to Use GeoAxis AI. A step-by-step guide to finding the location of any image w…
https://geoaxis.ai/
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — No metadata needed. AI reads the scene. Identify the location from a photo. Upload any photo. Orca 1.5 reads the visual evidence (architecture, signage, road design, vegetation, terrain) and returns r…
https://oceanir.ai/identify-location-from-photo
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — The AI location finder that geolocates any photo from pixels alone, with no GPS and no EXIF. Sub-second results, worldwide.GeoInfer doesn't use EXIF or GPS data. Social platforms and messaging apps st…
https://geoinfer.com/
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Claim 5: “McAfee, the producer of anti-virus software, used two freely available AI models to test more than 21,000 travel images.”
CORROBORATED
Two independent news sources (The Times of India and PetaPixel) explicitly state that McAfee Labs tested over 20,000-21,000 travel images using two freely available AI models.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — McAfee Corp. ( MAK-ə-fee), formerly known as McAfee Associates, Inc. from 1987 to 1997 and 2004 to 2014, Network Associates Inc. from 1997 to 2004, and Intel Security Group from 2014 to 2017, is an Am…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McAfee
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — McAfee Antivirus is an antivirus software created and maintained by McAfee (formerly known as Intel Security, and Network Associates prior to that). Originally marketed as a standalone product, it is …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McAfee_Antivirus
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — McAfee WebAdvisor, previously known as McAfee SiteAdvisor, is a service that reports on the safety of web sites by crawling the web and testing the sites it finds for malware and spam. A browser exten…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McAfee_WebAdvisor
+ 3 more evidence sources
info
Claim 6: “Another picture of a group of flowers was identified as the Keukenhof gardens in the Netherlands.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The evidence confirms that Keukenhof gardens exist and are a famous flower destination in the Netherlands, but there is no independent corroboration of the specific AI test result mentioned in the claim.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The following is a timeline for Google Street View, a technology implemented in Google Maps and Google Earth that provides ground-level interactive panoramas of cities. The service was first introduce…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Street_View_coverage
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Anniyan ( transl. Stranger) is a 2005 Indian Tamil-language psychological action thriller film directed by Shankar and produced by V. Ravichandran. The film stars Vikram as a meek law-abiding lawyer w…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anniyan
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Explore the very best of Keukenhof, from colorful tulip displays and flower gardens to the iconic windmill, peaceful waterways and beautiful spring landscapes. Keukenhof first welcomed visitors in 195…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBnKxI0WnAQ
+ 2 more evidence sources
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Claim 7: “One of the models identified 91% of images accurately while the other got 87%.”
CORROBORATED
Both PetaPixel and the 'Experts issue warning' source explicitly mention the accuracy rates of 91% and 87% for the two models tested by McAfee.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — McAfee Corp. ( MAK-ə-fee), formerly known as McAfee Associates, Inc. from 1987 to 1997 and 2004 to 2014, Network Associates Inc. from 1997 to 2004, and Intel Security Group from 2014 to 2017, is an Am…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McAfee
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — McAfee Antivirus is an antivirus software created and maintained by McAfee (formerly known as Intel Security, and Network Associates prior to that). Originally marketed as a standalone product, it is …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McAfee_Antivirus
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — McAfee WebAdvisor, previously known as McAfee SiteAdvisor, is a service that reports on the safety of web sites by crawling the web and testing the sites it finds for malware and spam. A browser exten…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McAfee_WebAdvisor
+ 3 more evidence sources
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.