Following the fake circulation of investment videos by the Minister for Finance, the Minister for Finance Neal Rijkenberg has warned emaSwati against fraudulent investment advertisements circulating on social media that use artificial intelligence to impersonate him.
Speaking in the Finance in Focus broadcast on Monday, the Minister said the fake videos were being used to promote specific investments and companies.
Rijkenberg said clips bearing his image and voice had been manipulated to tell the public to invest in certain products. 
“Whenever you see me saying you must, telling Maswati you need to invest in this product and naming companies where you should invest in, I would never do that,” he said.
The Minister stated that it would be inappropriate for the Ministry of Finance to endorse individual companies.
“As the Minister of Finance, I am finance of all the finance institutions and I would never choose one to say this is the one to invest in,” he said.
He described the adverts as fraud and a scam and urged the public to ignore them.
“It is really, it is fraud that has been taking place and it is a scam. One does not make the kind of returns that they talk of on those platforms,” Rijkenberg said.
He noted that the quality of the fake videos has improved. Earlier versions had an American accent, while recent ones more closely replicate his own accent.
“It really does look authentic. So please, watch out for that. Please don’t fall for those tricks,” the Minister stressed.
The Minister advised caution when considering investments with high promised returns. He said high returns are normally associated with high risk.
You do not get investments where they are saying, even a 20%, 15% return per annum, those kind of returns, those normally come with high risk associated,” he said.
Rijkenberg recommended lower-risk options such as bank deposits and government bonds, which he said currently offer between 8% and 9% interest with low risk.
He also cited livestock as an investment option for households with grazing land, noting that returns can be strong with proper breeding stock and management.
The Minister concluded by urging the public to remain vigilant against the AI-generated scam videos and to make careful investment decisions.
