A Facebook (FB) post used a video of naturopathy practitioner Arturo “Doc Atoie” Arboleda and cloned his voice using artificial intelligence (AI) to promote a fake health supplement.
“Diretsahan po naming sinasabi sa inyo na ang DTX500 na ‘yan ay hindi po namin kilala (We are telling you straight up that we don’t know that DTX500),” Arboleda said in a July 2 FB Reel.
The fake DTX500 as shown in the video in soft gel capsules are packaged in a plastic bottle labeled as herbal food supplement to “help lose weight, make you smarter, live longer, protect your liver, and reduce the risk of Parkinson’s disease.”
The original CLINICA DTX 500, which has no approved therapeutic claims, is sold in boxes and is being marketed as an anti-inflammatory supplement to prevent digestive disorders.
Clinica de Alternativo Medicina & Wellness Center, Inc, the company behind the FDA-approved product CLINICA DTX 500, issued a statement on May 5 to warn against copycat products.
“These fake supplements are not only ineffective but also pose serious health risks,” the statement read.
The fake video carried the label “Public Health Recommendation” affixing the logos of the Department of Health and Food and Drug Administration. It referenced FDA Advisory 0052-A Series of 2024. This advisory is non-existent but FDA records instead show a Public Health Warning against an unregistered chili sauce as per FDA advisory No. 2024-0052.
The bogus health promo carried a link to a website promising a buy one, take one offer if people provide their contact information and order immediately. This modus also appears in other scams debunked by VERA Files Fact Check.
It used a snippet from a video uploaded by YouTube channel Health Forum with Doc Atoie on March 28, 2018. In the original footage, Arboleda told an audience that one could repair their kidneys and stop going to dialysis sessions if they instill discipline and avoid bad lifestyle habits.
The video in the fake FB post also used artificial intelligence to mimic Arboleda’s voice and make it look like he said this line:
“So ngayon, magbibigay ako ng natural na paraan para tuluyang mawala ang nararamdaman mo at mahinto ang maintenance, mapa-high blood man ‘yan, diabetes, arthritis, kidney stones, o cancer.”
(Now, I will give a natural way to completely get rid of your ailments and to stop maintenance medication, be it for high blood, diabetes, arthritis, kidney stones, or cancer.)
Analysis from the voice deepfake detection tool Loccus shows that the suspected AI voice line only matches 9% with live human makers.
Posted by FB page Dr. Minda Libre on May 4, the fake ad garnered 46,998 reactions, 8,363 interactions, and 9.5 million views. It first appeared three days after it was promoted in a radio show in Cagayan de Oro.
