Tom Hanks Warns Fans Against Internet Scams Using His AI Image: 'Do Not Lose Your Hard Earned Money'

"These ads have been created without my consent, fraudulently and through AI," the Oscar winner wrote on Instagram Thursday, Aug. 29

• Tom Hanks issued a "public service announcement" via his Instagram account on Thursday, Aug. 29 to call out internet scams using AI-generated images of his face

• "Do not be fooled. Do not be swindled," Hanks wrote

• Hanks previously spoke out about computer-generated scams in September 2023 and first glimpsed how powerful imaging tech could become while making The Polar Express in 2004

Tom Hanks has issued a "public service announcement" from his official Instagram account, warning fans not to be "fooled" by ads using his likeness without permission.

The two-time Academy Award winner, 68, posted the warning on Thursday, Aug. 29, beginning, "There are multiple ads over the internet falsely using my name, likeness, and voice promoting miracle cures and wonder drugs."

"These ads have been created without my consent, fraudulently and through AI," Hanks continued, without naming specific scams. "I have nothing to do with these posts or the products and treatments, or the spokespeople touting these cures."

The Forrest Gump actor went on to say in his statement, "I have type 2 diabetes, and I ONLY work with my board certified doctor regarding my treatment."

"DO NOT BE FOOLED. DO NOT BE SWINDLED. DO NOT LOSE YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY," Hanks concluded, signing off with his name, on a post he captioned, "EXTRA! EXTRA!! READ ALL ABOUT IT!!"

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This isn't the first time Hanks has spoken out against artificial-intelligence versions of his likeness generated without his permission. Back in September 2023, he warned his followers on Instagram about a promotional video for a dental plan using a computer-generated image of him.

“BEWARE!! There’s a video out there promoting some dental plan with an AI version of me. I have nothing to do with it,” Hanks wrote over the photo of his AI counterpart from the clip.

The Man Called Otto star had previously addressed the growing use of AI in creative industries, saying on The Adam Buxton Podcast in May that “this has always been lingering.”

"The first time we did a movie that had a huge amount of our own data locked in a computer — literally what we looked like — was a movie called The Polar Express,” he explained, referencing his work in the 2004 animated Christmas film.

"We saw this coming,” Hanks continued. “We saw that there was going to be this ability to take zeros and ones inside a computer and turn it into a face and a character. Now that has only grown a billionfold since then, and we see it everywhere."

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The Elvis actor then said this shift inevitably affects contracts and how they need to protect actors' likenesses as intellectual property.

"I can tell you that there [are] discussions going on in all of the guilds, all of the agencies, and all of the legal firms in order to come up with the legal ramifications of my face and my voice — and everybody else's — being our intellectual property," Hanks explained.

He went on, "What is a bona fide possibility right now, if I wanted to, [is] I could get together and pitch a series of seven movies that would star me in them in which I would be 32 years old from now until kingdom come."

"Anybody can now recreate themselves at any age they are, by way of AI or deep fake technology ... I could be hit by a bus tomorrow and that's it, but my performances can go on and on and on," Hanks said. "Outside of the understanding that it's been done by AI or deep fake, there'll be nothing to tell you that it's not me and me alone, and it's going to have some degree of lifelike quality."

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