Recipe Scammers Are Using an AI-Generated Emily Blunt as a Slop Puppet to Promote Their Garbage

A new report reveals thousands of scam websites flooding the internet with AI-generated recipes, disguised as blogs written by genuine chefs and home cooks. Decrypt Ads, a startup tracking online ad supply chains, identified over 2,000 of these AI recipe farms, many of which operate remotely using Chinese and Russian adtech partners. The report found that these websites use aggressive social media tactics, particularly on Pinterest, Twitter, and Facebook, to generate organic traffic.

One particularly suspicious site, "AddCakes," claims to be run by a baker named "Elena" who wants to connect with her roots through baking. However, the character of Elena is an AI-generated version of British actress Emily Blunt. The site publishes photos of a fabricated Elena in the kitchen, surrounded by a fake family, despite the fact that the real Emily Blunt does not live in Morocco, the location where the website's operations are based.

Security expert Zach Edwards discovered around 400 suspicious websites initially, but using technical fingerprints, he uncovered hundreds more associated with the same domains. These operators are careful not to disclose all their websites, as they don't want to be exposed. The report highlights the deceptive nature of these AI recipe sites, which use fabricated backstories and high-quality images to create the illusion of expert content.

However, none of the recipes have been tested or cooked by the actual authors. The researcher warns that these websites scrape content ideas from genuine bloggers and creators, putting consumers at risk of privacy breaches when loading sites with Chinese and Russian adtech partners.