On July 18, 2024, Facebook served me paid video ads leading to a fake OpenAI Sora page on the scam websites OpenSora-AI.com, OpenAI.MySora-AI.com, OpenAI.Index-Sora.com, My.Video-Sora.org and OpenAI.AI-Index-Sora.com. That page pointed me to a Russian scam website on JourneyArt.org. The Joni Studio Facebook page hosted the ads. The ads read, “Sora is an AI model developed by OpenAI that can create realistic and imaginative scenes from text instructions. These videos are NOT real! They are all generated by Sora AI. This is a MASSIVE step up from anything I’ve ever seen. It blows Gen2, Pika, and SVD right out of the water!! I can’t wait to have a play and see what further controls it gives me. Supercharge your video production by harnessing the power of AI, saving you valuable time and resources. Experience the full version here: https://opensora-ai.com. Install in seconds – No credit card details required.”
However, again, to be clear, OpenSora-AI.com, OpenAI.MySora-AI.com, OpenAI.Index-Sora.com, My.Video-Sora.org and OpenAI.AI-Index-Sora.com are scam websites. OpenAI’s Sora product has no official affiliation with the website.
What Is Sora?
According to OpenAI’s official website for Sora on openai.com/index/sora, “Sora is an AI model that can create realistic and imaginative scenes from text instructions.” In other words, OpenAI’s aim with Sora is to create realistic-looking videos with the use of artificial intelligence (AI).
The Washington Post once reported of Sora, “The future of AI video is here, super weird flaws and all.”
The New York Times also published Sora’s technology creates videos that “look as if they were lifted from a Hollywood movie.”
As of July 18, OpenAI had not yet announced a release date for Sora.
Details About OpenSora-AI.com and Other Scam Websites
Again, OpenSora-AI.com, OpenAI.MySora-AI.com, OpenAI.Index-Sora.com, My.Video-Sora.org and OpenAI.AI-Index-Sora.com are scam websites. According to GoDaddy.com’s WHOIS domain lookup tool, an unknown person registered OpenSora-AI.com on July 15, just three days before I viewed the ad. Meanwhile, someone also registered Index-Sora.com on July 19.
Further, an attempt to archive OpenSora-AI.com displayed a different page altogether lacking the information about OpenAI and Sora. In other words, scammers appeared to design the website to only load the scam version of the page if they navigated directly from a Facebook ad.
JourneyArt.org Scam from Russia
The scam website provided a download link purportedly to offer free access to the OpenAI product Sora. The website JourneyArt.org hosted that download link. According to IPQualityScore.com’s malicious URL scanner, the IP address associated with JourneyArt.org resides in Russia.
A quick search of Google found other links displaying users discussing past scams hosted on JourneyArt.org.
What Does the Downloaded Files from OpenSora-AI.com and Other Scam Websites Do?
The download link associated with the scam websites OpenSora-AI.com, OpenAI.MySora-AI.com, OpenAI.Index-Sora.com, My.Video-Sora.org and OpenAI.AI-Index-Sora.com downloaded either a .dmg file for Apple devices or a .exe file for Windows products. I did not try to open the files. The files likely stored viruses or other malicious software.
What If I Opened the File from OpenSora-AI.com or Other Websites?
If any readers opened the file, I recommend downloading a software-security product to scan your devices. Ensure your devices are safe and clean. For example, try products from Norton, McAfee or Malwarebytes.
An even better option might be to take the compromised device to a tech shop in your local area. Seek guidance from local professionals with good online ratings. Do not, however, trust anyone claiming in an online message all you have to do is contact a special social media user who can help you recover your accounts or device access. Those users likely lead account recovery scams and do not wield any special abilities to help you.
Reddit Post
Just before I published this article, I searched for the scam website and stumbled upon a recent Reddit thread. Reddit user u/Wuzobia posted the thread on the r/OpenAI subreddit just 20 hours earlier.
The post featured a screenshot of a Facebook page named Sora AI – a page with only 13 likes and 11 followers. The title of the thread read, “Openai’s Sora Ads on Facebook Says No Credit Card Required- Fake Or Legit?”
The user wrote:
Hey, so today I came across this “Sponsored” post on my Facebook feed, claiming to be from OpenAI’s official Sora website. It instantly made me suspicious because the ad said no credit card was required. So, I decided to check out their Facebook page, and guess what? They only had 6 followers, and the Instagram account they linked to didn’t even exist!
Out of curiosity, I visited the website mentioned in the ad, opensora-ai.com. First off, I highly doubt Sora would be something you can just download. Plus, the whole “no credit card required” thing seemed super sketchy. To top it off, none of the links in the website’s footer worked. It got me thinking – do all Facebook ads even go through a review process?
Reddit Comments
Under the Reddit post, the top comment from user u/desktop3060 pointed out the fact Meta accepts money for scam ads all of the time. The user commented, “I’m pretty sure I could run a Facebook ad campaign pretending to be Facebook themselves, and they would keep it up for several months at the very least. There are more businesses today than at any other point in history, all vying for your attention, and a whole lot more scams pretending to be companies too. Facebook doesn’t care who they take money from as long as they’re getting paid.”
In a different comment, a user said, “It doesn’t say anywhere in the screenshot that it is the official thing, and the logo doesn’t match anything OpenAI has ever produced. There is no website called sora.com.”
Another user remarked, “Kinda sounds like you answered your own question, to be honest.”
In other words, more than one Facebook page existed where scammers likely residing in Russia attempted to successfully execute their criminal schemes. The commenter’s mention of Facebook not caring who they take money from as long as they’re getting paid aligned with my own experiences of reviewing thousands of scam ads hosted by the tech giant. Meta’s PR staffers talk a big game about how serious the company supposedly approaches combating scams. However, the reality of how Meta – and its tens of billions of dollars in quarterly revenue – purposely chose to not hire credible moderators to properly check ads before the ads display to users, showed the company appeared anything but serious when it came to scams.
Editor’s Note: On July 20, 23 and 26, I updated this report to add information about the new websites OpenAI.Index-Sora.com, My.Video-Sora.org and OpenAI.MySora-AI.com. On Aug. 18, I added OpenAI.AI-Index-Sora.com.
Its august now, and these things are still everywhere, and frusturatingly, facebook is rejecting reports of them being scams. I’m tempted at this stage to start cluing in a few journalists I know about facebooks refusal to act on these. Hit em in the reputation.