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Medium reported severity Investigation Opened

Sweden: Economic Crime Authority says pump-and-dump share frauds on small savers used AI; an investor describes AI-made adverts of himself

In October 2025 Swedish media, citing Finansinspektionen, reported that more than 5,000 small savers had lost about half a billion kronor that year in pump-and-dump share frauds, and a Finansinspektionen official said some had lost several million kronor. An investigator at the Economic Crime Authority told TT that the frauds, run from abroad, use a refined method with the latest AI technology. TV4 described the usual pattern as a Facebook tip in which a well-known finance profile appears to recommend a safe investment, leading to a WhatsApp group. The investor Günter Mårder said 30 to 40 adverts and AI-produced films showed him speaking, that about 15 to 20 finance profiles had been used, and that his whole summer went on handling questions. Sveriges Radio reported that the financial journalist Gabriel Mellqvist's identity had been used and that he was frustrated at the damage to his professional reputation and at Meta's inaction. The authority does not say how the AI use was established, and the savers figure is not tied to the AI adverts.

AI system
Unidentified image and video tool
Occurred
2025
Reported
20 October 2025
Event location
Unknown
What the AI did
Depicted or impersonated the person
Reported harm
Financial LossReputational HarmPsychological Distress
Whose AI use
Someone else’s AI use
Setting
Finance · Work
Evidence
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 6 sources, 4 underlying accounts
7 claims: 7 reported. 4 open questions
People reported harmed
At least 2 people

AI system as recorded: Unidentified tools used by fraudsters to produce films and images imitating well-known Swedish finance profiles in Facebook investment adverts; the Economic Crime Authority describes the method as using AI and names no tool

What Happened

The frauds. In October 2025 several Swedish outlets, citing Finansinspektionen, reported that more than 5,000 small savers had lost a total of about half a billion kronor that year in pump-and-dump share frauds. Dagens PS relayed a Finansinspektionen head of department telling SVT that some private individuals had lost several million kronor. TV4 described the usual pattern: a tip on Facebook in which a well-known finance profile appears to recommend a safe share investment, after which people are invited to a WhatsApp group promising free tips; the fraudsters, who already hold cheap shares, sell once savers have pushed the price up.

The AI attribution. An investigator at the Economic Crime Authority told TT, as carried by EFN, that the method was new and refined, run from abroad and using the latest AI technology, and that the investigator could not describe the authority's investigations because of preliminary-investigation secrecy. The authority does not say how it established the AI use or which tools were used.

The depicted finance figures. The investor Günter Mårder told TV4 that he and about 15 to 20 other finance profiles had been used, that he learned of it when people began contacting him, that there were 30 to 40 adverts, and that AI-produced films appeared showing him speaking in a newsroom and a podcast studio associated with him. He said his whole summer went on handling the questions, that it hurt because it concerned his profession, and that he was disappointed in Meta. Sveriges Radio reported that the financial journalist Gabriel Mellqvist's identity had been used in fake Facebook profiles; its English service said he was frustrated that his professional reputation was being damaged, and he told SR he felt great frustration that large companies did not act harder against it.

Limits. Finansinspektionen's figure covers pump-and-dump frauds as a whole; no source says how many of those savers saw an AI-made advert, or whether any saver saw an advert depicting the two men interviewed.

Reported harm

Finansinspektionen, as relayed, counts over 5,000 savers who lost about half a billion kronor in 2025 pump-and-dump frauds; a depicted investor says his summer went on answering questions and that it hurt professionally, and a depicted financial journalist describes frustration at damage to his reputation.

How Harm Occurred

Fraudsters placed Facebook adverts in which well-known Swedish finance profiles appeared, through films and images that one depicted investor and news reports describe as AI-made, in frauds the Economic Crime Authority says use AI technology, to recommend share investments; savers who followed them into WhatsApp groups bought shares the fraudsters then sold, and the depicted finance figures' names and likenesses were used without consent.

Outcome

Ongoing

The Economic Crime Authority said in October 2025 that it was conducting investigations under preliminary-investigation secrecy; no outcome is reported in the inspected sources.

What remains unknown

  • How many of the savers counted by Finansinspektionen saw an AI-made advert rather than another kind of tip, and their individual losses.
  • How the Economic Crime Authority established that AI was used, and which tools generated the films or images.
  • Whether any defrauded saver saw an advert depicting the investor or the journalist interviewed.
  • Whether Meta removed the adverts, and the outcome of the Economic Crime Authority's investigations.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: reported. An investigator at the Swedish Economic Crime Authority, which is investigating these frauds, told TT that the pump-and-dump frauds use a refined method with the latest AI technology. The investor depicted in the adverts says AI-produced films showed him speaking in places associated with him, and that the adverts drew people towards a WhatsApp share-tip group. Finansinspektionen's figures describe the savers' losses. The authority does not say how the AI use was established or which tools were used, and no source examined a particular film.

7 claims: 7 reported. What the statuses mean

Reported Several outlets, citing Finansinspektionen (the Swedish financial supervisor), reported in October 2025 that more than 5,000 small savers in Sweden had lost a total of about half a billion kronor that year in so-called pump-and-dump share frauds.

Causal attribution. Finansinspektionen's figure for pump-and-dump frauds as a whole, relayed by several outlets (one origin); it does not say how many of these savers saw an AI-made advert.

  • tv4.se(opens in new tab) supports · Swedish
    'Över 5 000 svenskar har förlorat sammanlagt en halv miljard kronor i år i så kallade "pump and dump"-bedrägerier.'
  • omni.se(opens in new tab) supports · Swedish
    'Hittills har över 5 000 svenska småsparare gått miste om en halv miljard kronor i bedrägerierna, enligt Finansinspektionen.'
  • efn.se(opens in new tab) supports · Swedish
    'Enligt Finansinspektionens senaste siffror har omkring 5 000 svenskar drabbats i år och förlorat sammanlagt en halv miljard kronor till bedragarna.'
  • dagensps.se(opens in new tab) supports · Swedish
    'ska enligt den svenska tillsynsmyndigheten FI ha lurat mer än 5 000 svenskar. Totalt uppgår summan till en halv miljard kronor som bedragarna tillskansat sig.'
Reported A Finansinspektionen head of department told SVT that some private individuals had lost several million kronor.

Causal attribution. Statement of a supervisory official as relayed from SVT.

  • dagensps.se(opens in new tab) supports · Swedish
    '”Vissa privatpersoner har förlorat flera miljoner kronor”, säger Jimmy Kvarnström, chef för avdelningen Marknader på Finansinspektionen (FI), till SVT:s Ekonomibyrån.'
Reported An investigator (kammarkommissarie) at the Swedish Economic Crime Authority told TT that the frauds were a new, refined method using the latest AI technology, run from abroad, and that the investigator could not describe the authority's investigations because of preliminary-investigation secrecy.

Causal attribution. The investigating authority's attribution of AI use to the method; it does not say how the AI use was established or which tools were used.

  • efn.se(opens in new tab) supports · Swedish
    '– Det som är skillnad nu är att det är en förfinad metod där man använder sig av senaste tekniken med AI. Jag kan inte gå närmare in på vilka utredningar vi bedriver eftersom det råder förundersökningssekretess, säger Björn Rygart.'; '– Det vi ser nu är en ny typ av tillvägagångssätt, som styrs från utlandet.'
Reported According to TV4, the usual pattern began with a tip on Facebook in which a well-known finance profile appeared to recommend a safe share investment; the investor interviewed said those deceived were asked to join a WhatsApp group promising free share tips, and that he and about 15 to 20 other finance profiles had been used.

Causal attribution. TV4's description and the investor's account; one outlet.

  • tv4.se(opens in new tab) supports · Swedish
    'Standardförfarandet är ett tips på Facebook där en känd ekonomiprofil berättar om en säker aktieinvestering.'; '– Jag och omkring 15 – 20 andra finansprofiler har använts. Den som luras anmodas att gå med i en whats up-grupp där man kommer få våra bästa aktietips helt utan kostnad'
Reported The investor said he learned of the scheme when people began contacting him, that it involved 30 to 40 adverts, and that AI-produced films appeared in which he spoke in the newsroom of the paper where he is a columnist or in a podcast studio he was associated with.

Causal attribution. The depicted investor's own description of the adverts, reported by TV4; the films are not shown to have been examined.

  • tv4.se(opens in new tab) supports · Swedish
    'Günter Mårder fick veta att han förekom i sammanhanget när folk började höra av sig till honom.'; '– Det handlade om 30, 40 annonser. Det började komma AI-producerade filmer, där jag pratade och stod inne på redaktionen på Dagens Industri där jag är krönikör'
Reported The investor said that his whole summer went on handling the questions that came in, that it hurt because it concerned his profession and reputation, and that he was disappointed in Meta for not keeping its platform clean.

Causal attribution. His own account to TV4.

  • tv4.se(opens in new tab) supports · Swedish
    '– Hela sommaren gick åt till att hantera alla frågor som kom. Det gör ont eftersom det är inom ett fält där jag och de andra har vår profession.'; 'Jag är besviken på Meta som inte håller rent på sin egen gård.'
Reported Sveriges Radio reported that a financial journalist's identity had been used in fake Facebook profiles by the fraudsters; its English service said his identity had been deepfaked using AI and that he was frustrated that his professional reputation was being damaged, and he told SR he felt great frustration that large companies such as Meta did not act harder against it.

Causal attribution. Sveriges Radio's report and its interview with the journalist (Omni relays the same interview); the AI description of his case is SR's English-service wording.

  • sverigesradio.se(opens in new tab) supports · Swedish
    'Ekonomijournalisten Gabriel Mellqvist, vars identitet utnyttjats, uttrycker frustration över att Meta, som äger Facebook, inte agerar mot de falska profilerna.'
  • sverigesradio.se(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'Swedish financial journalist Gabriel Mellqvist is one such profile whose identity has been deepfaked using AI to con investors'; 'frustrated that his professional reputation is being damaged.'
  • omni.se(opens in new tab) supports · Swedish
    '– Jag känner stor frustration. Jag tycker det är bedrövligt att stora bolag inte tar i med hårdhandskarna mot sånt här, säger han till SR Ekot.'

Sources

6 sources inspected, from 4 underlying accounts. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.

How the sources were read, and where the events happened

Read in Swedish by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-17 and translated into English by the research agent (an AI); no human translator or reviewer was involved. TV4 Nyheterna report of 24 October 2025 with its own interview of the investor; read in full (HTTP 200). Its savers figure is unattributed in TV4's text and matches the Finansinspektionen figure other outlets attribute. Applies to s1.

Read in Swedish by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-17 and translated into English by the research agent (an AI); no human translator or reviewer was involved. Sveriges Radio Ekot item of 30 October 2025; the live URL returned HTTP 403 and the Internet Archive capture was read in full (text standfirst of a radio piece). Applies to s2.

Sveriges Radio's English service (Radio Sweden) version of 31 October 2025 of the same Ekot report; live URL HTTP 403, Internet Archive capture read in full. Same origin as the Swedish item. Applies to s3.

Read in Swedish by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-17 and translated into English by the research agent (an AI); no human translator or reviewer was involved. Omni summary of 30 October 2025 relaying the journalist's interview with SR Ekot and the Finansinspektionen figure; read in full (HTTP 200). Grouped with SR because the quotation is SR's. Applies to s4.

Read in Swedish by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-17 and translated into English by the research agent (an AI); no human translator or reviewer was involved. EFN report of 26 October 2025 carrying the Economic Crime Authority investigator's statements given to the TT news agency; read in full (HTTP 200). Applies to s5.

Read in Swedish by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-17 and translated into English by the research agent (an AI); no human translator or reviewer was involved. Dagens PS report of 20 October 2025 relaying SVT Ekonomibyrån's report and the Finansinspektionen official's statement to SVT; read in full (HTTP 200). Applies to s6.

Event countries: Unknown. Affected-person countries: Sweden. Court countries: Unknown.

Finansinspektionen's figure counts savers in Sweden, and the depicted investor and journalist are Swedish finance figures interviewed by Swedish media. The Economic Crime Authority says the frauds are run from abroad and no source locates the adverts' operation, so event countries are left unknown.

Reviewed for publication 2026-10-17: Published as a core case (depicted_or_impersonated): the Economic Crime Authority says the 2025 pump-and-dump frauds against Swedish savers use AI, a depicted investor describes AI-produced films of himself in the adverts and the time and reputational cost to him, and a depicted financial journalist describes damage to his reputation. Finansinspektionen's savers figure is recorded without being tied to the AI adverts, and the AI attribution's technical basis is undisclosed.

People described

Small savers in Sweden defrauded in pump-and-dump share frauds (Finansinspektionen counts over 5,000 overall), and two depicted finance figures, an investor and a financial journalist, who describe reputational and practical harm

People reported harmed in this case

At least 2 people

0 AI participants · 2 other people harmed

Additional affected people are described without a reliable count.

The two depicted finance figures who describe adverse consequences are counted: the investor (TV4) and the financial journalist (Sveriges Radio, relayed by Omni). Finansinspektionen's figure of over 5,000 defrauded savers covers pump-and-dump frauds as a whole and is not tied to the AI adverts saver by saver, so the savers are an unquantified remainder.

Counted once within this case. The same person may appear in other cases. This count does not establish AI causation.

Tags

#deepfake_advert#investment_fraud#pump_and_dump#finance_profile_likeness#sweden

Cite this case

Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.

APA

NOPE. (2026). Sweden: Economic Crime Authority says pump-and-dump share frauds on small savers used AI; an investor describes AI-made adverts of himself. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2025-sweden-authorities-say-ai-made-ads-of-finance-profiles-drew-savers-into-pump-and-dump-frauds

BibTeX

@misc{2025_sweden_authorities_say_ai_made_ads_of_finance_profiles_drew_savers_into_pump_and_dump_frauds,
  title = {Sweden: Economic Crime Authority says pump-and-dump share frauds on small savers used AI; an investor describes AI-made adverts of himself},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2025-sweden-authorities-say-ai-made-ads-of-finance-profiles-drew-savers-into-pump-and-dump-frauds}
}

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