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Low reported severity Media Coverage

Fact-checkers say videos impersonating an Albanian cardiologist and a journalist to sell hypertension pills were likely AI-made; both men disowned them

A Facebook page in the name of the Albanian cardiologist Dr. Spiro Qirko published a video claiming he had discovered a cure for hypertension, and a second video presented as an interview of him by the journalist Ilir Topi, promoting a product called Hyper Caps. Kallxo's fact-checking unit Krypometer, in an article of 30 March 2026, reports that it ran the video through the AI-content detector Hive Moderation, which gave a 96.4% probability that the video and the speech were AI-generated, and that Hyper Caps is not on the Kosovo medicines agency's list of products authorised for marketing. Both men told Krypometer they had nothing to do with the page or the video. The journalist said it was AI-generated and fake, and the cardiologist said he felt deeply offended by the fraud and had never recommended herbal remedies for hypertension. Who made the videos, how widely they circulated and whether anyone bought the product are not reported.

AI system
Unidentified video tool
Occurred
Event date unknown
Reported
30 March 2026
Event location
Unknown
What the AI did
Depicted or impersonated the person
Reported harm
Reputational Harm
Whose AI use
Someone else’s AI use
Setting
Health · Finance · Public life
Evidence
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution supported · 1 source
4 claims: 4 reported. 3 open questions
People reported harmed
2 people

AI system as recorded: Unnamed AI video and voice generation tool used to make videos of a likeness of the cardiologist, including a staged interview with a journalist, assessed by Krypometer with Hive Moderation as 96.4% likely AI-generated

What Happened

The videos. Krypometer reports that the Facebook page Dr. Spiro Qirko published a video claiming that the cardiologist had discovered a cure for hypertension, and a second video in the form of an interview in which the journalist Ilir Topi supposedly questions him. The product promoted, Hyper Caps, is claimed to be his discovery.

The AI assessment. Krypometer says it tested the video with Hive Moderation, a platform that detects AI-created content, and that the result gave a 96.4% probability that the video, and also the speech, were AI-generated. A detector score is a probability, not proof.

The depicted men's response. Krypometer contacted both men, who denied having anything to do with the profile or the video. Topi said: "It is generated with AI, fake." Qirko said he felt very offended by this ugly fraud exploiting his name and personality and called it extremely criminal; he added that he has never recommended herbal remedies for hypertension.

The product. Krypometer found that Hyper Caps is not on the list of products with marketing authorisation from the Kosovo Agency for Medicinal Products and Devices.

Limits. The videos and the Facebook page were not inspected. The article does not give the date the videos were first posted, their reach, any buyer, or which AI tool was used. The quotations are translations by the research agent (an AI).

Reported harm

A cardiologist and a journalist were impersonated without consent in videos assessed as AI-generated that promoted an unauthorised hypertension product; both disowned the videos and the cardiologist said he felt deeply offended (reported).

Outcome

Unknown

Krypometer published its fact check on 30 March 2026 with both men's denials. No takedown, complaint to the authorities or other action is reported in the article.

What remains unknown

  • When the videos were first posted and how widely they circulated.
  • Who made the videos and the page, and which AI tool was used.
  • Whether anyone bought the product, and whether the page was removed.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: reported. Krypometer reports that it ran the video through the AI-content detector Hive Moderation, which gave a 96.4% probability that the video and the speech were AI-generated, and the journalist depicted in it called it AI-generated. The generated likenesses of the two men are what promoted the product in their names and what they disowned. The tool used and the maker are not identified, and a detector score is a probability.

4 claims: 4 reported. What the statuses mean

Reported A Facebook page in the cardiologist's name published a video claiming he had discovered a cure for hypertension, and a second video presented as an interview of him by the journalist, promoting a product called Hyper Caps.

Causal attribution. Krypometer's description of the page and videos; not inspected by the reviewer.

  • kallxo.com(opens in new tab) supports · Albanian
    'Faqja në Facebook Dr. Spiro Qirko ( arkiva ) ka publikuar një video në të cilën pretendohet se ka zbuluar një ilaç për shërimin e hipertensionit.'; 'Intervista pretendohet se zhvillohet nga gazetari Ilir Topi (intervistuesi) me doktor Spiro Qirko'; '‘Hyper Caps’ është produkti që pretendohet të jetë zbuluar nga kardiologu dhe se i njëjti shëron hipertensionin.'
Reported Krypometer tested the video with the AI-content detector Hive Moderation, which gave a 96.4% probability that the video and the speech were AI-generated.

Causal attribution. The fact-checker's own analysis; a detector probability, not a confirmation of the tool used.

  • kallxo.com(opens in new tab) supports · Albanian
    'Krypometër ka testuar këtë video përmes HIVEModeration , platformë që detekton përmbajtjet e krijuara me Inteligjencë Artificiale dhe nga rezultatet e saj del se videoja ka një probabilitet prej 96.4% se është e gjeneruar me AI gjithashtu edhe fjalimi'
Reported Both depicted men told Krypometer they had nothing to do with the page or the video; the journalist said it was AI-generated and fake, and the cardiologist said he felt deeply offended by the fraud and had never recommended herbal remedies for hypertension.

Causal attribution. The depicted men's own statements to Krypometer.

  • kallxo.com(opens in new tab) supports · Albanian
    'të cilët e kanë mohuar të kenë të bëjnë diçka me këtë profil apo me përmbajtjen e kësaj videoje.'; '“Është e gjeneruar me AI, fake.”- ka thënë Topi.'; '“Ndjehem shumë i fyer për këtë mashtrim shumë të shëmtuar që spekulohet në mënyrë më të ndyrë dhe të paprecedent me emrin dhe personalitetin tim. Është tepër kriminale.”- ka thënë Qirko'; 'Qirko ka thënë se asnjeherë nuk ka rekomanduar ilaçe bimore për të trajtuar hipertensionin.'
Reported Hyper Caps is not on the Kosovo medicines agency's list of products with marketing authorisation.

Causal attribution. Krypometer's search of the agency list; the list itself was not inspected.

  • kallxo.com(opens in new tab) supports · Albanian
    'rezulton se produkti ‘Hyper Caps’ nuk është në listën e barërave me Autorizim Marketingu.'

Sources

1 source inspected. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.

How the sources were read, and where the events happened

Albanian article read on 2026-10-27 through the publisher's own WordPress search feed (kallxo.com/feed/?s=Qirko, full post content), because the article page returns a Cloudflare challenge; translated by the research agent (an AI). Locators are verbatim Albanian. Applies to s1.

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

The article describes the cardiologist as a cardiologist from Albania and the journalist as from Albania (title). It checks the product against Kosovo's marketing-authorisation list but does not say where the page was run or whom it targeted, so no event country is recorded. No court is involved.

Reviewed for publication 2026-10-27: Published because a fact-checker's detector analysis assessed the videos as AI-generated, the videos used the two men's likenesses to sell an unauthorised product, and both men disowned them, the cardiologist saying he was deeply offended. All details are attributed to Krypometer's report.

People described

An Albanian cardiologist and an Albanian journalist, both public professionals, whose likenesses were used without consent in AI-generated videos promoting an unauthorised hypertension product

People reported harmed in this case

2 people

0 AI participants · 2 other people harmed

Two people: the cardiologist and the journalist depicted in the videos, who both told Krypometer they had nothing to do with the page or the video, the cardiologist saying he felt deeply offended by the fraud (Kallxo Krypometer). Exact 2. No buyer or viewer harm is reported and none is counted.

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

Tags

#deepfake-advert#health-product#impersonation#fact-check

Cite this case

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

APA

NOPE. (2026). Fact-checkers say videos impersonating an Albanian cardiologist and a journalist to sell hypertension pills were likely AI-made; both men disowned them. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2026-albanian-cardiologist-and-journalist-impersonated-in-likely-ai-generated-videos-selling-hypertension-capsules

BibTeX

@misc{2026_albanian_cardiologist_and_journalist_impersonated_in_likely_ai_generated_videos_selling_hypertension_capsules,
  title = {Fact-checkers say videos impersonating an Albanian cardiologist and a journalist to sell hypertension pills were likely AI-made; both men disowned them},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2026-albanian-cardiologist-and-journalist-impersonated-in-likely-ai-generated-videos-selling-hypertension-capsules}
}

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