Fake Ads Using Your Face? What Canadian Business Owners Can Do
Fake ads using your face are no longer something that only happens to celebrities. Across Canada, well-known doctors are finding AI-made videos of themselves selling pills they've never heard of. And one Montreal doctor had a person show up at his intensive care unit asking for a refund.
I'm Mike Davey, founder of Pivot Reputation Management. I help Canadian business owners protect what people find when they search for them online. When I read this story, I recognized the pattern right away: the scammer takes the money, and your name takes the damage.
Here's what happened, why it matters to your business, and what you can do about it this week.
What happened
In September, CBC News reported that AI-made videos of real Canadian doctors are showing up in social media ads, selling pills and health products. These are called deepfakes: videos made with artificial intelligence that copy a real person's face and voice.
B.C.'s Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, is one of them. Her likeness was used to sell supposed health products, including a prostate treatment. She told CBC it scared her at first, because it was so easy to make it look like she was saying things that weren't true.
Dr. François Marquis, chief of intensive care at Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital in Montreal, says patients and colleagues keep telling him about new videos of him on Facebook. In the latest one, he's supposedly selling something to fix your joints. It even offers $1 million if you're not satisfied.
He told CBC about a person who came looking for him in the ICU. They had paid hundreds of dollars for pills that never came, and they wanted their money back.
He has flagged the videos to the social media platforms, to Quebec's medical college and to police. His answer, as he told CBC: "Basically I was told that there's nothing they can really do." New videos keep popping back up.
Dr. Henry sent cease and desist letters to several parties. She says her complaints are still hitting roadblocks.
Several doctors told CBC there's still no clear way to get these videos taken down.
That's the line I keep coming back to.
Why this matters to your business
These are prominent doctors with familiar faces. But you don't have to be famous for this to happen to you.
If your face is in your ads, your videos or your Google Business Profile (the listing that shows up when people search for your business on Google), there may already be enough out there to copy.
The CBC article points to a study where up to half of people couldn't tell a deepfake from a real video about science. That was three years ago. One researcher told CBC these scams are only going to get more convincing.
Now think about what a fake ad does to you. Someone else takes the money. But the customer who got burned never met the scammer. They saw your name and your face. That's who the person in Montreal went looking for.
I've been on the receiving end of false claims about my own business. I know how it feels when people react to something that isn't you. The damage lands on your name either way.
And the platforms won't always fix it fast. The doctors in this story are well known. They've flagged the videos and sent cease and desist letters. They still can't get the videos to stay down.
So you can't count on takedowns. Your real protection is what your customers already know before the fake shows up.
What to do about fake ads using your face
Search for yourself this week. Look up your name and your business name on Google, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. Add words like "deal," "offer" and "review." Look for ads or pages using your face, logo or name that you didn't make.
Tell customers what you'll never do. Put a short line on your website and social profiles: what you sell, where you sell it, and what you'll never ask for. For example: "We never sell products through social media ads, and we'll never ask you to pay by e-transfer to a personal email."
Make the real you easy to find. List your official accounts, website and phone number in one place on your site. When someone wonders if something is real, they need somewhere to check.
Keep a record of every fake. Screenshot it with the date and the link before you report it. Report it on the platform every time it shows up. If a customer lost money, point them to their local police or the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.
Warn people fast, on your real channels. Post about the fake, pin the post and say what to look for. The sooner customers hear it from you, the less the fake can do.
Give your staff one answer. When someone calls asking "Is this really you?", everyone should say the same thing and know where to send them.
Key takeaways
Deepfakes are getting more convincing, and you don't need to be famous to be copied.
Don't count on the platforms to take fakes down quickly. The doctors in this story couldn't.
Your best defence is customers who already know how the real you does business.
Source: CBC News, "Deepfake doctors peddling bogus cures are becoming more convincing — and very little can be done to stop them," Sept. 18, 2026
About the author
Mike Davey is the founder of Pivot Reputation Management. He helps Canadian business owners protect what people find when they search for them online. See what shows up for your business at needpivot.com.
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