<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>Exclusive:</span></strong><span> It looks like a normal photo of damaged makeup but alarm bells went off in Tanielle Jai's mind as soon as she saw it.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Queensland-based makeup artist and business owner has recently seen a spike in customers </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/small-business-ai-fraud-damaged-products-milkwick-tiktok-exclusive/f325e286-8eee-49c4-ab06-27bab8d60065" rel="" target="_blank" title="trying to use AI to 'reverse scam' her"><span>trying to use AI to 'reverse scam' her</span></a><span> business.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It's forced her to overhaul her returns process, which is how she caught the photo.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>LIVE UPDATES:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/us-israel-iran-war-live-updates-april-8-donald-trump-latest-world-news-headlines-australian-fuel-price-and-supply/7129929f-2032-47c5-afed-d097de3d97d2" target="_blank"><strong><span>Trump agrees to two-week ceasefire with Iran after frantic peace talks</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The customer who sent it claimed it showed that the bronzer they ordered had been damaged in transit and requested a full refund.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But Jai noticed some inconsistencies, like the cream product appearing to be runny and crumbly at the same time.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The formula we have just couldn't physically do that," Jai told nine.com.au.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/ai-reverse-scam-tanielle-jai-makeup-artist-exclusive/320a0d73-5c8a-40b0-ae74-11c4447b0d77" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We also ran the image through AI detection websites and it came back as completely fake."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><em><strong><span>Have you got a story? Contact</span></strong></em><span> </span><strong><em><span>reporter Maddison Leach at</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="mailto:mleach@nine.com.au" target="_blank" title="mleach@nine.com.au"><strong><em><span>mleach@nine.com.au</span></em></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>She asked the customer for a video of the damaged makeup, which they sent.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But Jai said there were inconsistencies with that too, leading her to believe both the photo and video had been altered </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/artificial-intelligence" rel="" target="_blank" title="using AI"><span>using AI</span></a><span> to fraudulently claim a replacement or refund.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It's become a surprisingly common occurrence for Australian small business owners.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Several have reported a surge in AI 'reverse scams' wherein consumers claim a product arrived damaged and provide AI-altered photos as proof.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>They then request a refund or replacement, effectively cheating businesses out of cash or stock.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Over the last two months we have seen an increase in attempts to use AI to claim faulty products," Jai said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Just last week a customer from the US emailed her claiming she didn't like the items she ordered for her own makeup kit and that they arrived damaged.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Jai requested photos of the damage, but the images the customer sent appeared to have been "tampered with".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>She said AI detection software also flagged them as having been altered.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Jai went back to the customer with her findings and suggested a video call to prove the products had actually been damaged.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>That's when the customer's story allegedly changed.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Straight away she goes, 'actually I got this for a client, my client edited [the photos],'" Jai said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I actually got annoyed, and I just said, 'with all due respect ... why would you do this to a small business? It's stealing.'"</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/can-you-get-a-dui-on-e-bike-laws-penalties-state-by-state-rules-explained/a8ec941d-e45d-4d49-a8bb-f686fe375663" target="_blank"><strong><span>A Sydney expat was slapped with drink driving charge on a Lime Bike. So what are the rules?</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="player__video-container"><img alt="" src="https://imageresizer.static9.net.au/DRGadCjIDHxRfpGuAVYuQiLEuuY=/750x0/https%3A%2F%2Fvms-network-images-prod.s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com%2F2026%2F03%2F763227%2Fai-memories.png"/></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But Jai and her two staff can't catch every dodgy photo and she has no doubt some customers have gotten away with it in the past.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>And if they're willing to do it to her, an established makeup artist with nearly half a million Instagram followers, Jai's certain they're willing to do it to smaller brands.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Jeannie Paterson, Professor of Law at The University of Melbourne, previously confirmed to nine.com.au that this kind of consumer fraud is a criminal offence.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Fraud means intentionally deceive someone and you cannot argue it's not intentional. You're trying to operate a fraud on a business," she said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We're in this spiral of fakes and frauds. I just feel awful about it."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>She suspects some businesses will raise prices to cover the cost of additional shipping insurance or losses due to fraud.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Many are likely to start requiring video proof of faulty or damaged goods.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Jai has taken things one step further.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/ben-roberts-smith-charged-alleged-war-crime-murder-gina-rinehart-speaks-out/4dd62981-7fc1-41e2-9422-b661a3303040" target="_blank"><strong><span>Gina Rinehart asks how investigation into Ben Roberts-Smith can be 'justified'</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>She now runs all photos and videos of damaged products through AI detection software and checks metadata for red flags.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>She's also started asking customers who claim their products arrived broken to video call her and show the damage in real time.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It's is terrifying that the only solution that I can see is that we have to do live calls with these customers to verify."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><em><span>NEVER MISS A STORY:</span></em></strong><span> </span><em><span>Get your breaking news and exclusive stories first by following us across all platforms.</span></em></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><ul><li><strong><em><span>Download the 9NEWS App here via</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://apps.apple.com/au/app/9news/id1010533727" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>Apple</span></em></strong></a><span> </span><strong><em><span>and</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nineNewsAlerts.nine.com&amp;hl=en_AU&amp;pli=1" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>Google Play</span></em></strong></a></li><li><strong><em><span>Make 9News your preferred source on Google by</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://9.nine.com.au/8x987w" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>ticking this box here</span></em></strong></a></li><li><strong><em><span>Sign up to</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://login.nine.com.au/edm?client_id=nineatnine" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>our breaking newsletter here</span></em></strong></a></li></ul></div></div>