False advertising on social media reportedly used altered news footage and the name of Alberta’s River Cree Resort & Casino to try to attract clicks.

Former CityNews journalist Baily Nitti was alerted to the fact her likeness was being used in marketing purporting to be from the Edmonton-area casino. The publisher of the ad used AI to alter footage from an old news report about the pandemic, changing it to promote a fraudulent online betting site.

“To see yourself on that, being used in a way where your voice is saying something you never said is scary,” Nitti told CityNews. “AI is crazy, I know that, but I never realized I would be part of something like this,” said Nitti.

Per CityNews, River Cree Resort and Casino CEO Vik Mahajan said the casino has been used in fake social media ads for over a year.

“It’s not just us, it’s other big brands,” Mahajan said. “It always leaves a bad taste in the person’s mouth who ends up using that, and we don’t want our name to be out there in these frauds and fake ads.”

Fraudulent iGaming advertising a widespread problem

Alberta RMCP Cpl. Troy Savinkoff warned that the issue is believed to be widespread and likely targets other casinos.

Scam ads have also been reporting to be targeting players in Manitoba, Québec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, looking to lure unsuspecting players to sign up for fake online casinos and thus compromise their privacy, data and money.

Last year, both Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries (MBLL) and Alberta Gaming, Liquor, and Cannabis (AGLC) warned players about social media ads implying that land-based venues are offering iGaming.

Ontario’s Casino Rama also was used in adverts that directed the public to a website belonging to Curaçao-registered WinSpirit Casino, which operates without a license in the province.

The Canadian Gaming Association (CGA) has been vocal about criticizing social media and technology giants such as Meta for failing to do enough to prevent this kind of fraud. “Virtually every land-based casino brand in the country has had its brand highjacked to promote fraudulent online sites in the past several months,” said CGA President Paul Burns in a post on LinkedIn last spring.

Major Canadian casino operator Great Canadian Entertainment keeps a list on its website of known fraudulent advertising attempts concerning its properties. In January 2025 alone, scams have used the names and images of Ontario’s Woodbine Racetrack, B.C.’s River Rock Casino and  Canadian Entertainment’s Casino New Brunswick and Casino Nova Scotia to promote unlicensed and unregulated online casinos.

In Ontario, all regulated commercial online casinos have to include the iGaming Ontario (iGO) logo in their adverts. In other provinces, only the provincial lottery corporations’ platforms are regulated.