A Ghanaian social media influencer known as Abu Trica, whose real name is Frederick Kumi, has been extradited to the US to face trial for allegedly running a romance scam that defrauded elderly Americans of over $8m (£5.9m). He denies all the charges against him. Prosecutors said he used AI tools to create fake online identities, targeting victims through social media and dating sites, earning their trust then extorting their money. Kumi was flown to the US on Thursday and faces up to 20 years in prison if found guilty of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering. Kumi's lawyer, Oliver Barker-Vormawor, told the BBC he went to court on Thursday to stop the extradition before learning a short while later that Kumi had in fact already been extradited on board a Delta Airlines flight.

Touted as a less-hookup-focused Grindr, Goose is an invite-only space for gay men. The problem is the people promoting it don't seem real. "You're receiving this because you're exactly the type of person we're building this for," the caption reads, accompanied by a code for an invite to a "members only community." The link leads to a login for Goose, a dating and friendship app for gay men with the slogan "for the boys," which allows users to "meet guys through the life you already have," according to its website. Neither does @danielmmulugeta, the cute dark-haired influencer who shared the above caption, with the exact same verbiage, on Close Friends' Stories.

Welcome to the "Temu experience of telehealth," where everyone from Grindr to MAGA influencers can open a virtual clinic selling weight loss drugs and more. This May, the digital search company JustAnswer made an odd pivot: It started selling weight loss drugs. Launching an online pharmacy to peddle GLP-1s wasn't the obvious next step for a business that offers paid guidance from experts, but chief executive Andy Kurtzig says the decision was partly driven by advice from ChatGPT and partly by avid customer interest. The number of queries related to the drugs more than doubled between 2024 and 2025, he says. Plus, it was easy to find help: A company called WhiteLabelMD handles customer service, provides software, and connects patients with clinicians who prescribe drugs like semaglutide and tirzepatide.

Pump.Fun's Bounties Platform Is a Black Hole of Circular Grifting The crypto platform claims you can "pay anyone to do anything," from quitting a job on camera to getting a memecoin-themed tattoo. But it mostly seems like people trying to scam each other. Would you run into a crowded university lecture hall, fart into a megaphone, and bellow "fartcoin" at the top of your lungs? If so--and should you have the means to document this stunt on video, preferably capturing the audience's reaction--you may claim a reward of approximately $1,000 . The money, of course, will be dispensed in fartcoin, a meme cryptocurrency trading at a little over 10 cents at time of publication, with a total market capitalization hovering around $130 million. Such is the promise of Pump.Fun GO, a new feature on Pump.Fun, one of the fastest-growing crypto businesses of the past few years.

Sex workers appear on the livestreams of famous manosphere influencers to boost their followings--but often end up being degraded. Adult film star Willow Ryder didn't immediately recognize the man who entered the Miami party she was at earlier this month, but she knew he wasn't part of the sex work industry . He had an entourage and what appeared to be a hulking bodyguard. Her friends told her it was Clavicular, aka Braden Peters, a popular Kick livestreamer known for " looksmaxxing," or resorting to extreme measures to improve his appearance. Ryder says she didn't know exactly who Clavicular was or what he talked about on his stream, but she knew that he had a massive following.

From claims of an Israeli false flag to efforts to sell ivermectin, influencers and grifters are using lessons learned from Covid-19 to push their baseless conspiracy theories. Conspiracy theorists, wellness influencers, and grifters have already started promoting wild claims about the hantavirus outbreak that began aboard the MV, a cruise ship on the Atlantic. Some conspiracy theorists compared the outbreak to the Covid-19 pandemic, claiming it was another effort to control the global population, while others pushed a false narrative that the Covid-19 vaccine caused hantavirus. Many others promoted ivermectin as a treatment, using the incident as a way to sell emergency medical kits featuring the antiparasitic drug typically used as a horse dewormer. In more recent days, many of these same people spreading conspiracy theories have promoted the baseless and antisemitic claims that the entire incident is a false flag orchestrated by Israel.

The complaints, obtained by WIRED, described Bad Bunny's performance as being overly sexual and protested that the show was in Spanish. Bad Bunny performs during halftime of Super Bowl LX at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California. Even before Bad Bunny took to the field, his Super Bowl halftime performance drew controversy, especially from MAGA influencers upset over the Puerto Rican star's comments against Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the fact that he sings in Spanish. Following the performance, which was watched by more than 128 million people, those complaints continued--but they were largely focused on perceived vulgarity in the artist's performance. Following a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request from WIRED, the Federal Communications Commission, which regulates communications including broadcast, released 2,155 complaints the agency received about the Super Bowl, most of which were about the halftime show.

Build American AI, a nonprofit linked to a super PAC bankrolled by executives at OpenAI and Andreessen Horowitz, is funding a campaign to spread pro-AI messaging and stoke fears about China. In an Instagram video posted on April 1, lifestyle influencer Melissa Strahle poses outdoors before an American flag as soft instrumental music plays. "AI lets me focus on what matters most," she tells her 1.4 million followers. "We need to invest in American-made AI to ensure America leads the way in innovation and job creation." Strahle labeled the post an advertisement, but she didn't disclose what organization had paid for it.

With A.I., Anyone Can Be an Influencer TikTok and Instagram made it easy to monetize the physical self. Now the social-media-savvy can use A.I. to play with their identity, or overhaul it entirely. A few months ago, a forty-five-year-old homemaker living in Georgia, whom I'll call Robin, started playing around with an A.I. image generator. Growing up, Robin had loved reading; she dabbled in writing, too, but after her first child was born, the habit faded. A.I. offered something different--a kind of world-building that allowed her to project herself into places and situations she'd never inhabited.

A viral red carpet moment shone light on a group of hunky Instagram influencers--and the followers who are too horny to care that they're not real. With his deep brown eyes, wide grin, and almost comically chiseled body, Jae Young Joon is the platonic ideal of a hunky male influencer. On Instagram, where he has more than 320,000 followers, he regularly posts himself trying on sheet masks at home, enjoying soju and karaoke with his friends, or posing in front of the Ferris wheel at Coachella . Occasionally, he'll promote his music, including his recent LP Pressure Release which features a BDSM-inspired album cover, his back muscles rippling underneath a harness and chains. It's an impressive online presence, and Jae's fans eat it up: his comments are filled with fire and heart-eye emoji and people praising his music.