A Dartmouth, N.S. woman says her recent experience with a duct-cleaning company has left her feeling scammed, alleging that AI-generated images were used to make it appear work had been completed when it hadn’t.
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it → say → her
Shernette Smith says she saw an ad on Facebook Marketplace promoting home duct-cleaning services for $150, which she thought was a good price.
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she → say → 150
“I’d never had it really professionally done, and I do have asthma.
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I → have → asthma
My son has asthma, so, I thought, it’s a good idea.
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it → have → asthma
Let me try these people,” she said.
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she → let → people
Smith says she began communicating with the company on WhatsApp to set up an appointment and two men showed up at her home on Oct. 9.
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men → say → Oct.
During the appointment, which she estimates took about 45 minutes, Smith says a worker told her that the blower motor of her furnace was “filthy.”
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motor → estimate → furnace
“He opened the main furnace door, took a photo, and comes back out and shows me a very dirty motor and said, ‘You’ve got mould, ma’am.’
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You → open → mould
And I’ve never really looked at (the duct), so I believed him,” she said.
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she → look → him
Smith says the workers offered to clean it for an extra $250, which would have brought the total to $400.
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which → say → 400
They eventually agreed on $300 for the entire job.
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They → agree → job
She said the workers told her the work was finished and she paid them.
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she → say → them
“He said, ‘I’m all done, ma’am.’
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I → say → ?
And he shows (me a picture on his phone of) this motor that looks almost new.
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that → show → motor
I was like, ‘Wow, that is so clean,” she said.
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she → say → ?
But when Smith went downstairs to check for herself after the crew had left, she was shocked to see a completely different result from the one she was shown in the photo.
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she → go → photo
All the dirt was still in that section where the filter goes.
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filter → go → section
So that’s when I knew he had scammed me,” she said.
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she → ’ → me
Smith received the photos the company had shown her, which she shared with Global News.
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she → receive → News
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She says she spent hours messaging back and forth with the company, which denied any wrongdoing.
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which → get → wrongdoing
After repeatedly complaining, she was refunded the $300 she had paid.
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she → complain → 300
Cybersecurity and AI experts weigh in
The company Smith contacted was called Fresh Air Quality, which has a website that boasts of offering air-duct cleaning services across Canada.
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that → weigh → Canada
The website includes videos the company describes as testimonials from satisfied customers, who are all speaking to the camera and giving glowing reviews.
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who → include → reviews
Global News sent an email and called three phone numbers associated with the business, but received no response.
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News → send → response
At one point, it seemed someone had picked up the phone but promptly hung up.
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someone → seem → phone
Cybersecurity expert Chester Wisneki reviewed the website for Global News and traced phone numbers affiliated with the company to other pages offering the same service under different names.
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Wisneki → review → names
Some shared the identical customer reaction videos.
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Some → share → videos
There have been examples where illegitimate firms have used 20 different brands for the same group of people, said Wisneki, director of global field CISO at the security firm, Sophos.
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Wisneki → use → firm
“You know they’ll all be the same group and they rotate through the names because as soon as the word gets out that they’re a scam, they need a new brand,” he said.
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he → know → brand
Siwei Lyu, an AI researcher based at the University at Buffalo, also analyzed the photos provided to Smith.
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Lyu → base → Smith
He and two of his students created an AI report for Global News, which found a Google synth ID watermark on the photo of the clean blower motor, which is a way of identifying AI-generated images.
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which → create → images
Lyu says AI-detector Sightengine also gave the photo a 99 per cent AI score.
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Sightengine → say → score
“It showed a high response that comes from a generative model.
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that → show → model
So that’s our strongest evidence this image may come from AI,” he said.
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he → ’ → AI
Lyu adds that the photos on the company’s website also appear to be AI-generated, however, their customer review videos showed no signs of AI use.
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videos → add → use
Lyu says Smith did the right thing by collecting and keeping the images, which could be analyzed.
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which → say → images
Anyone who believes they are being deceived can check for AI use using similar tools.
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they → believe → tools
“All the tools we use are either open source, free, or you pay a small fee for using them.
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you → use → them
But I think the procedure is very much repeatable,” he said.
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he → think → ?
The National Air Duct Cleaners Association, a global trade association, says consumers need to take precautions when hiring a company.
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consumers → say → company
…and 13 more, not listed.
The Aporia
