PORTLAND, Oregon — Henk Pander is remembered as one of the Pacific Northwest’s most prominent artists. His renowned work hangs in historic buildings, museums and even the state Capitol. He created portraits of two former Oregon governors: Tom McCall and John Kitzhaber.
Pander passed away last year. So, it didn’t seem that odd when someone claiming to be Pander’s son, Arnold, sent a direct message on Instagram to a local nonprofit.
“Thanks a lot for the love and support towards my Dad,” the initial message read.
Over the years, Pander had worked closely with the The Vanport Mosaic and created paintings depicting the flood that destroyed Vanport. Laura Forti, co-founder of The Vanport Mosaic responded to the message and the conversation continued.
“They showed some knowledge and familiarity with the organization and our relationship to Henk,” said Forti.
But then, things took an unexpected turn. The person claiming to be Pander’s son suggested he wanted to sell some of his late father’s paintings and donate the money to cancer patients.
Forti quickly realized it was a hoax. The messages had spelling and grammatical errors. The tone changed frequently. The story was just too far-fetched.
For the next few weeks, Forti continued to play along — knowing full well she was dealing with an imposter. That’s because she was in contact with Pander’s real sons, Arnold and Jacob.
“I think it is terrible that people would prey upon a dead man,” said Jacob Pander.
The imposter posing as Pander’s sons created fake social media profiles on Instagram and WhatsApp — even lifting photos from their real accounts, then messaging some of their friends and contacts.
“Not only are you attempting to go after this person’s property, but you are also preying on the goodwill and the love for this person by their friends and their community,” said Jacob.
Pander’s sons tried to shut down the scammer by contacting Instagram but found it difficult to get a response. They also reached out to local law enforcement and the FBI.
Meanwhile, the messages continued. The imposter encouraged payment using Bitcoin or money transfer apps.
At one point, the imposter shared images of the paintings that were allegedly for sale by taking screengrabs of online images. Little did they know, one of the works was hanging on the wall outside of The Vanport Mosaic offices.
“Of all paintings. Of all the paintings — one that we actually have!” Forti said, laughing.
The whole situation seemed like a game of cat and mouse until Forti asked for a video or a video chat proving the imposter was real.
That’s when things got creepy.
The scammer sent a pair of deepfake videos, portraying Pander’s son, Jacob.
“It was very disturbing seeing that video,” said Jacob. “It sort of put a pit in my stomach.”
The AI-generated videos were created by manipulating instructional filmmaking videos Jacob had posted on YouTube.
“If you are looking at it small on a phone or if you don’t know me very well, you’re not even going to notice that it is somebody else’s mouth,” explained Jacob. “It’s spooky stuff.”
Deepfake technology is improving every day, explained Stephanie Shark, assistant special agent in charge of the FBI’s Portland office.
“The better the technology gets and the more readily available, you’re going to see it all over,” said Shark.
This AI technology can make it difficult to determine what’s real and what’s not. Like most imposter scams, it is important to slow down, check it out and talk with someone you trust before paying someone or giving them personal information.
“At the end of the day, people need to learn to trust their own instinct,” said Shark.
Instagram eventually shut down the scammer’s bogus account and the trail went dead.
“We don’t know where these people are. Perhaps they’re on the other side of the world or perhaps they are somewhere in Oregon,” said Jacob.
It’s not clear why they posed as Pander’s sons or reached out to a small nonprofit in Portland.
The criminals may have moved on from this particular scheme, but they likely haven’t stopped. Technology is making it more difficult to figure out what’s real and what’s not.
“If you’re not expecting it, you can be fooled by this stuff because it is very convincing,” Jacob said.