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NOPE
Medium reported severity Criminal Charges

Colombia: police dismantle a ring in Ibagué accused of defrauding people in seven countries with fake US visas, using AI to alter faces and voices in video calls and pose as consular officials

Colombian police (Dijín) and prosecutors announced in July 2026 that they had dismantled a ring in Ibagué accused of defrauding citizens of seven countries with fake visas and residence permits for the United States. Five people were captured during three searches. The Dijín director said members altered their faces and accents during video calls to pose as consular officials and members of US government agencies; police also described chatbots for first contact, voice cloning and manipulated videos. Semana and El País (Cali) report that more than 500 people are said to have been defrauded, and El País says the ring demanded payments of between 500 and 2,000 dollars. Three of those captured were charged, according to Caracol Radio.

AI system
Unidentified video tool
Occurred
Event date unknown
Reported
12 July 2026
Event location
Colombia
What the AI did
Communicated with the person
Reported harm
Financial Loss
Whose AI use
Someone else’s AI use
Setting
Finance · Public services
Evidence
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 3 sources, 1 underlying account
7 claims: 7 reported. 5 open questions
People reported harmed
Not reliably quantifiable from the sources

AI system as recorded: Face- and accent-altering software used in live video calls (police call the method DeepFace), with chatbots for first contact, voice synthesis and cloning and manipulated videos, as described by Colombian police; no product is identified

What Happened

Caracol Radio (12 July 2026) reported that the Dijín, with the Fiscalía, Ameripol and the US agency HSI, dismantled in Ibagué a transnational ring accused of defrauding citizens of seven countries with fake visas and residence permits for the United States. Five people were captured in flagrante and three searches were carried out at properties used as clandestine operation centres. According to the police, the ring contacted people through social networks, phone calls and messaging apps, ran more than 100 fake profiles and used AI tools to simulate attention from consular officials and migration advisers. The Dijín director said members altered their faces and accents during video calls and so impersonated consular officials and members of US government agencies. Police also listed automated messages, personalised scripts, chatbots for first contact, voice synthesis and cloning, and manipulated videos.

El País (Cali, 14 July 2026) reports that the investigation lasted six months, that those involved are said to have manipulated more than 500 citizens, and that once trust was established the ring demanded payments of between 500 and 2,000 dollars. Semana (13 July 2026) also gives the figure of more than 500 citizens of seven countries. All three reports rest on the same police and prosecution announcement.

Reported harm

Police and prosecutors say the ring defrauded people seeking US visas, said in the conditional by Semana and El País (Cali) to number more than 500, with payments of 500 to 2,000 dollars demanded (El País, Cali).

Outcome

Ongoing

Five people were captured in flagrante during three searches in Ibagué. Caracol Radio reports that three were brought before a judge, who legalised the captures, and that prosecutors charged them with offences including personal falsehood aggravated by the use of artificial intelligence. No trial outcome is reported.

What remains unknown

  • When the fraud began; the reports date only the operation and say the investigation lasted six months.
  • How many of the people defrauded took part in a video call with an altered face or voice.
  • The total amount lost.
  • Which software was used; Semana says police experts identified it and does not name it.
  • The outcome of the criminal case.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: reported. The Dijín director is quoted saying members altered their faces and accents during video calls (Caracol Radio; Semana), and police list chatbots, voice synthesis and cloning and manipulated videos. The altered video calls and chatbots were channels through which targets were spoken to (communicated_with). Semana reports that experts of the police cyber centre identified and neutralised the AI software allegedly used for the impersonations; no body names it, and no forensic report or court finding is cited.

7 claims: 7 reported. What the statuses mean

Reported The Dijín, with the Fiscalía, dismantled in Ibagué a ring accused of defrauding citizens of seven countries with fake visas and residence permits for the United States; five people were captured in flagrante and three searches were carried out.

Causal attribution. Police and prosecution account; the accusations have not been tested in court.

  • caracol.com.co(opens in new tab) supports · Spanish
    'desarticuló en Ibagué una red transnacional señalada de estafar a ciudadanos de siete países con falsas visas y permisos de residencia para Estados Unidos'
  • caracol.com.co(opens in new tab) supports · Spanish
    'fueron capturadas en flagrancia cinco personas y se realizaron tres diligencias de allanamiento'
Reported The Dijín director said members altered their faces and accents during video calls and so impersonated consular officials and members of US government agencies. El País (Cali) describes the technology as altering faces, expressions, voices and accents in video calls.

Causal attribution. Statement of the police director quoted by Caracol Radio and Semana and paraphrased by El País (Cali); no forensic detail is reported.

  • caracol.com.co(opens in new tab) supports · Spanish
    'Mediante la modalidad de DeepFace alteraban sus rostros y acentos durante las videollamadas, logrando suplantar con alta fidelidad a funcionarios consulares y miembros de agencias gubernamentales estadounidenses'
  • semana.com(opens in new tab) supports · Spanish
    'Mediante la modalidad de DeepFace, alteraban sus rostros y acentos durante las videollamadas, logrando suplantar con alta fidelidad a funcionarios consulares y miembros de agencias gubernamentales estadounidenses'
  • elpais.com.co(opens in new tab) supports · Spanish
    'alterar por completo los rostros, las expresiones, las voces y hasta los acentos en videollamadas'
Reported According to the police, the ring also used chatbots for first contact with victims, voice synthesis and cloning, and manipulated videos.

Causal attribution. Police description relayed by Caracol Radio.

  • caracol.com.co(opens in new tab) supports · Spanish
    'chatbots para la atención inicial de las víctimas, síntesis y clonación de voz, además de videos manipulados para suplantar identidades'
Reported Semana and El País (Cali) report that more than 500 citizens are said to have been defrauded or manipulated by the ring.

Causal attribution. A figure attributed to the investigation and stated conditionally by both outlets.

  • semana.com(opens in new tab) supports · Spanish
    'Esta banda delincuencial habría estafado a más de 500 ciudadanos de siete países mediante la suplantación de funcionarios estadounidenses'
  • elpais.com.co(opens in new tab) supports · Spanish
    'los implicados habrían manipulado de forma fraudulenta a más de 500 ciudadanos'
Reported El País (Cali) reports that the ring demanded payments of between 500 and 2,000 dollars once trust was established.

Causal attribution. Reported by one outlet from the investigation.

Reported According to the authorities, the people affected were citizens of Costa Rica, Ecuador, the United States, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Peru; El País (Cali) describes victims located in those countries.

Causal attribution. Police account relayed by the outlets.

  • caracol.com.co(opens in new tab) supports · Spanish
    'la red afectaba a ciudadanos de Costa Rica, Ecuador, Estados Unidos, Guatemala, Honduras, México y Perú'
  • elpais.com.co(opens in new tab) supports · Spanish
    'alcanzando a víctimas ubicadas en Estados Unidos, Honduras, Guatemala, Perú, México, Ecuador y Costa Rica'
Reported Caracol Radio reports that three of those captured were brought before a judge who legalised the captures, and that prosecutors charged them with offences including personal falsehood aggravated by the use of artificial intelligence.

Causal attribution. Charges are allegations; no court record was read.

Sources

3 sources inspected, from 1 underlying account. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.

How the sources were read, and where the events happened

Spanish-language body read in the original on 2026-10-05 by the research agent (an AI). Passages are quoted verbatim in Spanish. English assertions are the agent's own translation and no human translator reviewed them. Caracol Radio, 12 July 2026; relays the police announcement and quotes the Dijín director. Applies to s1.

Spanish-language body read in the original on 2026-10-05 by the research agent (an AI). Passages are quoted verbatim in Spanish. English assertions are the agent's own translation and no human translator reviewed them. El País (Cali), 14 July 2026; same police announcement. Applies to s2.

Spanish-language body read in the original on 2026-10-05 by the research agent (an AI). Passages are quoted verbatim in Spanish. English assertions are the agent's own translation and no human translator reviewed them. Semana, 13 July 2026; same police announcement. Applies to s3.

Event countries: Colombia. Affected-person countries: Costa Rica, Ecuador, United States, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Peru. Court countries: Colombia.

The ring operated from properties in Ibagué, where the searches and captures took place, and three people were brought before a Colombian judge (Caracol Radio). El País (Cali) describes victims located in the United States, Honduras, Guatemala, Peru, Mexico, Ecuador and Costa Rica. Caracol Radio and Semana call the people affected citizens of those countries, which is nationality; only El País (Cali) describes them as located there.

Reviewed for publication 2026-10-05: Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as a core case: according to Colombian police, callers used AI-altered faces and voices in video calls, and chatbots, to defraud people seeking US visas. One reporting chain (the police and prosecution announcement) relayed by three outlets, so every claim stays reported. The people captured are not named.

People described

People in Costa Rica, Ecuador, the United States, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Peru who sought US visas or residence permits; Semana and El País (Cali) say in the conditional that more than 500 may have been defrauded or manipulated

People reported harmed in this case

Not reliably quantifiable from the sources

No reliable count. The authorities say the ring defrauded citizens of seven countries (Caracol Radio; Semana) and give no number in those statements. Semana and El País (Cali) give more than 500 only in the conditional (habría estafado; habrían manipulado), and no body says how many paid or how many took part in a video call with an altered face or voice. Unquantified, with zero placeholders.

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

Tags

#deepfakes#video-call-impersonation#voice-cloning#visa-fraud#fraud-ring#colombia#ibague

Cite this case

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

APA

NOPE. (2026). Colombia: police dismantle a ring in Ibagué accused of defrauding people in seven countries with fake US visas, using AI to alter faces and voices in video calls and pose as consular officials. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2026-ibague-colombia-ring-ai-altered-faces-voices-video-calls-fake-us-visa-fraud

BibTeX

@misc{2026_ibague_colombia_ring_ai_altered_faces_voices_video_calls_fake_us_visa_fraud,
  title = {Colombia: police dismantle a ring in Ibagué accused of defrauding people in seven countries with fake US visas, using AI to alter faces and voices in video calls and pose as consular officials},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2026-ibague-colombia-ring-ai-altered-faces-voices-video-calls-fake-us-visa-fraud}
}

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