Multiple Facebook pages impersonating celebrity-turned-chef and entrepreneur Marvin Agustin are advertising ‘premium Japanese’ nonstick pans at a low price. These ads are fake and manipulated through artificial intelligence.
These pages used spliced clips from the actor’s vlogs and other promotional cooking videos to sell defective kitchen products as exposed by the buyers in the comment section.
One of the scam posts partially carried the following text:
“⏰ MAUUBOS NA! PREMIUM JAPANESE NON-STICK PAN 2025 – Ngayong araw na lang natitira!
😱 Mahigit 3,000 na piraso ang na-sold out sa loob ng 24 oras – 199 na lang ang natitirang stock!
⛔ Ito na ang huling pagkakataon para makuha ang legendary na kawaling ginagamit ng mga kilalang chef sa Pilipinas!
🔥 PRESYONG PROMO: 899₱ lang – dating presyo: 4,495₱
🎁 BUMILI NG 1, LIBRE ANG 1 + Libreng Japanese knife + Libreng shipping sa buong bansa
📌 Umorder na dito bago maubos: https://www.marvin-agustin.asia/pan-japan.”
The one-minute and 43-second video contains clips where Agustin can be seen in a kitchen with fellow celebrity-chef Judy Ann Santos, and in another frame, cooking alone. The supposed voice of the actor can be heard saying:
“Bilisan mo at mag-order na bago pa maubos. Mahigit tatlong libong Japanese Nonstick Pan ang na-sold out sa loob lamang ng dalawampu’t apat na oras. Ngayon natitira na lang ang isang daan siyamnapu’t siyam na piraso na ibinebenta sa espesyal na presyo. Walampung porsyento off. Kaya mula sa orihinal na presyo na tatlong libo siyam na raan siyamnapu’t limang piso, ngayon ay pitong daan siyamnapu’t siyam na piso na lang at may libreng shipping ngayong araw. Ito ang high quality nonstick pan na ginagamit at nirerekomenda ko mismo pati na rin ng mga kilalang chef sa Pilipinas.
(“Hurry up and order before it runs out. Over 3,000 Japanese nonstick pans were sold out in just 24 hours. Now, only 199 pieces are left for sale at a special price– 80% off. From the original price of P3,995, it’s now only P799 with free shipping today. This is the high-quality nonstick pan that I personally use and recommend, together with the well-known chefs in the Philippines).”
Netizens are instructed to select a package and provide their personal information by clicking a link that leads to a graphic with a photo of the celebrity chef, the product packages and their details, and some fake reviews.
Agustin has disowned the ads and published a warning against these bogus pages.
On July 26, he posted a statement on his official FB page saying “We’ve been receiving reports of fake accounts pretending to be me or my team – selling products using my name, photos, videos, and even AI-generated voice.”
He listed his official social media accounts and reminded everyone to stay vigilant. “Please be informed: We are not selling woks or pans at the moment—and we have never sold trays or other kitchen products.“
The video showed a 99% likelihood of AI or deepfake content when VERA Files Fact Check ran it through AI-detection tool Hive Moderation.
The voice-cloned audio was overlaid with different promotional clips and Agustin’s videos.
Some of the extracted videos can be found in the celebrity-entrepreneur’s vlogs, particularly a cooking episode featuring actress Judy Ann Santos.
The original clips do not contain ads for pans or any cookware.
The photo of the actor used in the spurious linked website was lifted from an April 15, 2024 FB post on his official account. Agustin did promote honeycomb pans in 2022 and 2024, but is no longer endorsing these.
VERA Files has flagged other posts using celebrities to sell and advertise products.
The fake posts, posted on unofficial FB pages using the actor’s name, spread between July 21 to 27, have so far collectively garnered 213,100 views; 1,239 reactions; 399 comments; and 21 shares.
