Frank Ocean fans scammed by AI-generated leaks

(Image: Wikimedia Commons)

Fans of singer and songwriter Frank Ocean have reportedly been scammed out of $13,000 CAD (around Rs 7 lakh) on a music leaks forum by a user, who claimed to have a collection of leaked songs from the artist.

As reported by Vice, the forum soon discovered that the songs were AI-generated. The songs were sold in an underground music forum, where collectors pay exorbitant amounts to collect unreleased music from their favourite artists.

The scammer, who goes by the handle 'mourningassasin', spoke with Motherboard, and told the publication that at least one song in the leaks was real, and was circulated as a way to build credibility before selling the fake ones.

The user told Motherboard, the songs were created using high-quality vocal snippets from Ocean's catalogue, which were then run through an AI model. The leaks were posted in early April as short snippets to attract buyers.

Frank Ocean fans have been patiently waiting for a new release from the artist, who hasn't released a full-length album since 2016's Blonde.

This makes them particularly susceptible to scams, something the scammer verified when the user told Motherboard that a lot of people approached online for the music, promising to "pay big money for it".