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Medium reported severity Criminal Charges

Kanpur Dehat, India: police say a man posing as a Secretariat official used AI-made photos with national leaders and AI-made appointment letters in a job fraud

Police in Akbarpur, Kanpur Dehat district (Uttar Pradesh), arrested a man on the night of 23 October 2026 who, they say, called himself a deputy director at the state Secretariat in Lucknow and took money from job seekers for government posts. Five people had jointly complained on 22 October that he took lakhs of rupees from them, gave them fake appointment letters for review officer and clerk posts and threatened to kill them when they asked for their money back. According to the station officer as reported by Amar Ujala, his office held several AI-made pictures showing him with the Prime Minister, the Chief Minister and other public representatives, which police seized; Amar Ujala reports that he showed such pictures to win people's trust. In police questioning, as relayed by Amar Ujala and Aman Yatra Live, he said that he made a fake identity card with AI tools and that appointment letters and orders prepared with AI were printed and handed or posted to candidates. The police do not say how the AI use was established or which tool was used. He was produced in court and sent to jail, and police say they are searching for other members of the group.

AI system
Unidentified image and document tool
Occurred
Event date unknown
Reported
22 October 2026
Event location
India
What the AI did
Depicted or impersonated the person
Reported harm
Financial Loss
Whose AI use
Someone else’s AI use
Setting
Work · Finance
Evidence
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 4 sources, 2 underlying accounts
6 claims: 6 reported. 4 open questions
People reported harmed
At least 5 people

AI system as recorded: Unidentified AI tools that, according to the police account, were used to make pictures showing the accused with national and state leaders, a fake identity card, and appointment letters and orders in the Secretariat's name; no tool is named and no output is reproduced

What Happened

The complaint. On 22 October 2026 Hindustan reported that five people had jointly complained to Akbarpur police in Kanpur Dehat district that a man who described himself as a deputy director at the Secretariat in Lucknow had taken lakhs of rupees from them with the promise of government jobs and had given them fake appointment letters for review officer and clerk posts. When the letters proved fake and they asked for their money back, they say, they were threatened with death. The kotwal said a case had been registered against three named people and unknown associates.

The arrest. Aman Yatra Live and Amar Ujala report that police raided a rented house in Akbarpur on the night of 23 October and arrested the man. Police list 18 fake appointment letters, 18 fake orders, 12 notices, fake stamps, a laptop and a mobile phone among the items seized. He was produced in court and sent to jail, and police say they are searching for other members of the group.

The AI material. According to the Akbarpur station officer as reported by Amar Ujala, the office in the rented house had several AI-made pictures in which the man appears with the Prime Minister, the Chief Minister and other public representatives, and police seized AI-made photos. Amar Ujala reports that he showed these pictures, and pictures of high-level Secretariat meetings, to win people's trust and defraud them. In police questioning, as relayed by Amar Ujala and Aman Yatra Live, he said that he had made a fake identity card with AI tools, that appointment letters, orders and notices were prepared with AI, and that the AI-made orders and letters were printed and handed to candidates in person or by speed post. He also admitted, according to Amar Ujala, to taking four lakh rupees per candidate for Secretariat posts.

What is not known. The police do not say how they established the AI use or which tools were used. The reports do not say whether each of the five complainants saw the pictures or received letters made with AI, or how many other people paid. His responsibility is for the court to decide.

Reported harm

Five job seekers say they paid lakhs of rupees for promised government posts and received fake appointment letters; according to the police account, the man showed AI-made pictures of himself with national and state leaders to win trust and handed out appointment letters and orders prepared with AI.

How Harm Occurred

According to the police account, AI-made pictures showing the man with national and state leaders were displayed and shown to job seekers to win their trust, and appointment letters and orders prepared with AI were handed or posted to candidates who had paid for promised government jobs.

Outcome

Ongoing

Police report crime no. 425/2026 under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita; Amar Ujala says the case follows the five people's complaint of 22 October. Akbarpur police arrested the man on the night of 23 October 2026. Police report seizing 18 fake appointment letters, 18 fake orders, 12 notices, four sets of fake stamps, a laptop, a mobile phone and AI-made photographs. He was produced in court and sent to jail. Police say they are searching for other members of the group. No charge sheet or court decision is reported.

What remains unknown

  • Which AI tools were used and how the police established the AI use.
  • Whether each of the five complainants saw the AI-made pictures or received appointment letters that were made with AI.
  • How many other people paid and how much in total; the accused's figure of about four lakh rupees per candidate is unverified.
  • The accused's response in court, the outcome of the case and the role of other alleged members of the group.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: reported. The investigating police in Akbarpur are reported as saying that the office in the arrested man's rented house held several AI-made pictures showing him with the Prime Minister, the Chief Minister and other public representatives, which they seized, and Amar Ujala reports that he showed such pictures to win job seekers' trust. In police questioning, relayed by Amar Ujala and Aman Yatra Live, he said that appointment letters and orders in the Secretariat's name were prepared with AI and handed or posted to candidates, and that he made a fake identity card with AI tools. The generated pictures and documents were the material that presented him as a senior official to people who paid for jobs. The police do not disclose how the AI use was established or which tool was used.

6 claims: 6 reported. What the statuses mean

Reported Five people jointly complained to Akbarpur police that a man calling himself a deputy director at the Secretariat took lakhs of rupees from them for government jobs, gave them fake appointment letters for review officer and clerk posts, and threatened to kill them when they asked for their money back.

Causal attribution. Complainants' account relayed by two outlets; the complaint establishes that the allegation was made.

  • livehindustan.com(opens in new tab) supports · Hindi
    'पांच लोगों से लाखों रुपये ठगे गए। पीड़ितों को समीक्षा अधिकारी और क्लर्क के फर्जी नियुक्ति पत्र दिए गए। रुपये वापस मांगने पर आरोपियों ने जान से मारने की धमकी दी।'
  • amarujala.com(opens in new tab) supports · Hindi
    'जालसाजी, कूटरचित दस्तावेज इस्तेमाल कर धोखाधड़ी करने, आपराधिक धमकी देने की प्राथमिकी दर्ज कराई थी'
Reported According to the Akbarpur station officer as reported by Amar Ujala, the office in the man's rented house held several AI-made pictures showing him with the Prime Minister, the Chief Minister and other public representatives, and police seized AI-made photos.

Causal attribution. AI attribution by the investigating police; the technical basis is not disclosed.

  • amarujala.com(opens in new tab) supports · Hindi
    'अकबरपुर थानाध्यक्ष हरमीत सिंह ने बताया कि' 'कार्यालय में एआई से तैयार की गईं कई तस्वीरें लगी मिलीं। इनमें वह एआई से बनी देश के प्रधानमंत्री, मुख्यमंत्री, जनप्रतिनिधियों के साथ नजर आता है।' 'पुलिस ने एआई से तैयार की फोटो सहित अन्य वस्तुएं भी जब्त की हैं।'
Reported Amar Ujala reports that the man showed the AI-made pictures of himself with public representatives, and pictures of high-level Secretariat meetings, to win people's trust and defraud them.

Causal attribution. Outlet account following the police questioning; which victims saw the pictures is not stated.

  • amarujala.com(opens in new tab) supports · Hindi
    'कार्यालय में लगाई एआई से बनी जनप्रतिनिधियों के साथ अपनी तस्वीर व सचिवालय की उच्च स्तरीय बैठकों की तस्वीरें दिखाकर आसानी से लोगों को झांसे में लेकर ठगी का शिकार बना लेता था।'
Reported In police questioning, as relayed by two outlets, the man said he made a fake identity card with AI tools and that appointment letters and orders prepared with AI were printed and handed to candidates in person or sent by speed post.

Causal attribution. The accused's own account relayed from police questioning; not tested in court.

  • amanyatralive.com(opens in new tab) supports · Hindi
    'उसने एआई टूल्स की मदद से अपना एक फर्जी पहचान पत्र तैयार किया था' 'वह एआई से तैयार आदेश व नियुक्ति पत्र प्रिंट करवाकर स्पीड पोस्ट या व्यक्तिगत रूप से अभ्यर्थियों को थमा देता था।'
  • amarujala.com(opens in new tab) supports · Hindi
    'उसने एआई की मदद से अपना फर्जी आधार कार्ड बनाया था।' 'इसके बाद एआई की फर्जी नियुक्ति पत्र, आदेश, नोटिस आदि तैयार करते थे।'
Reported According to Amar Ujala, the man admitted in questioning to taking four lakh rupees each from people for jobs in various posts at the Secretariat.

Causal attribution. The accused's account relayed by one outlet; amounts are not verified.

  • amarujala.com(opens in new tab) supports · Hindi
    'पूछताछ में आरोपी ने लोगों को सचिवालय में अलग-अलग पद पर नौकरी दिलाने के नाम पर चार-चार लाख रुपये की ठगी करने की बात कुबूल की है।'
Reported Police arrested the man on the night of 23 October 2026, registered crime no. 425/2026 under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, seized fake appointment letters, orders, notices, stamps and a laptop, and he was produced in court and sent to jail.

Causal attribution. Police account of the arrest and seizure relayed by two outlets.

  • amanyatralive.com(opens in new tab) supports · Hindi
    'पुलिस टीम ने 23 अक्टूबर की रात करीब 9:30 बजे' 'मुकदमा अपराध संख्या 425/2026' 'पुलिस ने अभियुक्त के पास से 18 अदद जाली नियुक्ति पत्र, 18 अदद जाली आदेश, 12 अदद जाली नोटिस'
  • amarujala.com(opens in new tab) supports · Hindi
    'पुलिस ने गिरफ्तार आरोपी को कोर्ट में पेश किया है। वहां से उसे जेल भेजा गया है।'

Sources

4 sources inspected, from 2 underlying accounts. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.

How the sources were read, and where the events happened

Read in Hindi by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-25 and translated by the research agent (an AI) into English; no human translator or reviewer was involved. Aman Yatra Live report published 24 Oct 2026 20:05 IST, cited through its WordPress short link because the article URL contains the accused's name. Applies to s1.

Read in Hindi by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-25 and translated by the research agent (an AI) into English; no human translator or reviewer was involved. Amar Ujala Kanpur report published 25 Oct 2026 01:03 IST, credited to its local correspondent. Applies to s2.

Read in Hindi by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-25 and translated by the research agent (an AI) into English; no human translator or reviewer was involved. Amar Ujala video page text published 24 Oct 2026 22:25 IST; the video itself was not viewed. Applies to s3.

Read in Hindi by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-25 and translated by the research agent (an AI) into English; no human translator or reviewer was involved. Hindustan Kanpur report published 22 Oct 2026 22:18 IST, before the arrest. Applies to s4.

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

The complaint was filed with, and the arrest made by, Akbarpur police in Kanpur Dehat district, Uttar Pradesh, where the man ran his office from a rented house, so the event country is India. The complainants' countries are not stated beyond their reported villages, which are not used to infer nationality. He was produced before a court after the arrest.

Reviewed for publication 2026-10-25: Published as a core case (depicted_or_impersonated): Akbarpur police are reported as saying that a man who posed as a Secretariat deputy director kept AI-made pictures of himself with national and state leaders, which he showed to win job seekers' trust, and in police questioning he said that appointment letters and orders handed to candidates were prepared with AI; five people complained that they paid lakhs of rupees and received fake letters. The technical basis of the AI attribution is undisclosed. No private person is named.

People described

Job seekers who paid for promised government posts at the Uttar Pradesh Secretariat; five people filed the joint complaint and four of them are reported to have received fake appointment letters. None is named here

People reported harmed in this case

At least 5 people

0 AI participants · 5 other people harmed

Hindustan reports a joint complaint by five people who say they were cheated of lakhs of rupees with fake appointment letters; Amar Ujala's later report recaps the same complaint. The accused's account of taking about four lakh rupees per candidate over two years suggests more people, but no further number is given, so five is a lower bound. Whether each of the five received AI-made material is not stated.

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

Tags

#job_fraud#fake_appointment_letters#police_ai_attribution#uttar_pradesh#arrest

Cite this case

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

APA

NOPE. (2026). Kanpur Dehat, India: police say a man posing as a Secretariat official used AI-made photos with national leaders and AI-made appointment letters in a job fraud. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2026-kanpur-dehat-police-say-fake-secretariat-official-used-ai-made-photos-with-leaders-and-ai-made-appointment-letters-in-job-fraud

BibTeX

@misc{2026_kanpur_dehat_police_say_fake_secretariat_official_used_ai_made_photos_with_leaders_and_ai_made_appointment_letters_in_job_fraud,
  title = {Kanpur Dehat, India: police say a man posing as a Secretariat official used AI-made photos with national leaders and AI-made appointment letters in a job fraud},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2026-kanpur-dehat-police-say-fake-secretariat-official-used-ai-made-photos-with-leaders-and-ai-made-appointment-letters-in-job-fraud}
}

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