WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A woman from West Palm Beach is sharing her experience as a cautionary tale after narrowly escaping what she suspects was an attempted carjacking scheme involving AI-generated video footage. WATCH BELOW: 'In that moment, it looked like a real video, ' Melanie Valentine tells WPTV Experts caution against AI video manipulation following an incident where a man tried to lure a woman into his car. Melanie Valentine told WPTV that around 10 p. m. on Oct. 17, while making keys at the Home Depot on Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard in West Palm Beach, a man in his 20s approached her showing what seemed to be video evidence of someone stealing her husband’s truck from the parking lot. "He said, you have to follow me. You have to follow me. We can catch him. We can catch him, " Valentine recalled. Although the video appeared highly realistic, Valentine trusted her instincts and declined to follow the stranger outside. Instead, she called the police, while her neighbor went to inspect the vehicle. "In that moment, it looked like a real video. I thought it was a real video, " Valentine said. "But I had that gut feeling that something was off, and of course, I wasn’t going to follow the guy out front. " Her neighbor found the truck exactly where it had been left and also noticed another person crouched behind it, prompting a call to Home Depot security. "Yeah, it was wild.

It was pretty shocking, " Valentine said. West Palm Beach police confirmed that Valentine filed a report and that the case is being investigated as suspicious activity. Police told Valentine she was likely the first they’d encountered to report such a scheme, which they believe represents a novel use of AI technology in carjacking attempts. "Thankfully, I had the wherewithal. I didn’t follow them outside, you know, because who knows what would have happened?" Valentine remarked. Dr. Karni Chagal-Feferkorn, an AI attorney and professor at the University of South Florida, noted an increase in cases involving AI-generated content used for criminal activity. "The thing is — AI tools are getting better, " Chagal-Feferkorn explained. She highlighted that children are especially vulnerable to such tactics. "Imagine if someone showed this video to a child — ‘Hey, it’s your mom, come, she’s calling you, it’s her voice, she knows your name, ’" Chagal-Feferkorn said. "This is very frightening to me as a parent, and I think it should be frightening to all of us. " Cybersecurity firm DeepStrike reports that AI-related crimes are rapidly increasing. The company predicts AI-enabled financial fraud in the U. S. will reach $40 billion by 2027, up from $12. 3 billion in 2023. DeepStrike’s study also indicates an exponential rise in deepfake content, from 500, 000 fake videos and photos in early 2024 to an expected 8 million by year’s end. Chagal-Feferkorn urged the public to stay alert and verify suspicious circumstances. "The first step is awareness; it’s unfortunate, but we can’t trust things the way we used to, " she said. "Second, be more alert, be more suspicious, and if something feels wrong, try to verify. " Valentine shared her story to raise awareness about this developing threat. "I really wanted to bring awareness of what is happening, because even the police officer said she hadn’t seen this before. It was really scary, because you start to imagine all the things that could have happened, " Valentine said. "Maybe they would have ambushed me when I was getting out of the truck, if I had been alone, or if I had gone outside with them, maybe they had a weapon or tried to throw me in the truck — I have no idea. "