Skip to main content
NOPE
Medium reported severity Investigation Opened

Kazakhstan: the Prosecutor General's Office reported 119 trading-fraud cases registered in about six weeks, lured by deepfake videos of Elon Musk, Pavel Durov and other public figures and fake 'AI' platforms; a Taldykorgan woman transferred more than 7 million tenge

On 16 September 2026 the Prosecutor General's Office of Kazakhstan warned of an investment-fraud scheme in which criminals advertise non-existent projects on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and other platforms using deepfake videos of well-known people and fake 'AI' investment platforms promising very high passive income: 'Kaspi AI' with Mikhail Lomtadze, 'Quantum AI' with Elon Musk, 'TON' with Pavel Durov, and 'people's investments' in KazMunayGas or Gazprom fronted by news presenters from Khabar 24, KTK and Channel One. The office said 119 such cases had been registered across the country in the previous one and a half months. Its example: in September 2026 a woman from Taldykorgan saw an Instagram advertisement offering high returns from share trading, left her details through the link, was contacted by the fraudsters and, following their instructions, transferred more than 7 million tenge to third-party accounts; the money and supposed dividends appeared in a fake wallet that she could not withdraw from. A pre-trial investigation is under way. The office urged people not to trust guaranteed-return offers or transfer money to strangers.

AI system
Unidentified video tool
Occurred
1 Aug 2026 to 16 Sept 2026
Reported
16 September 2026
Event location
Kazakhstan
What the AI did
Depicted or impersonated the person
Reported harm
Financial Loss
Whose AI use
Someone else’s AI use
Setting
Finance · Everyday life
Evidence
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution supported · 5 sources, 1 underlying account
2 claims: 2 reported. 4 open questions
People reported harmed
At least 1 person

AI system as recorded: Deepfake videos of public figures (Elon Musk, Pavel Durov, Mikhail Lomtadze, television news presenters) and fake 'AI' investment platforms ('Quantum AI', 'Kaspi AI'); generation tools not identified

What Happened

According to the Prosecutor General's Office press service, as relayed by Kazpravda, Informburo.kz, Tengrinews, Kazlenta and Kursiv: to attract victims the fraudsters use popular social networks, including TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, where they place deepfake videos of celebrities and fake AI platforms promising super-high passive income, for example 'Kaspi AI' with Mikhail Lomtadze, 'Quantum AI' with Elon Musk, 'TON' with Pavel Durov, and 'people's investments' in KazMunayGas or Gazprom presented by well-known news anchors of Khabar 24, KTK and Channel One. In the last one and a half months alone 119 such cases were registered nationwide. In September 2026 a resident of Taldykorgan filed a report of fraud on an especially large scale: browsing Instagram she saw an advertisement offering super-profits from trading (buying and selling shares), followed the link and left an application with her personal and contact details; the criminals then contacted her and, following their instructions, she transferred more than 7 million tenge to the accounts of third parties. The transferred money and supposed dividends were displayed in a fake wallet, but the fraudsters gave her no way to cash out. A pre-trial investigation is being conducted. The office's appeal asks citizens not to trust offers of guaranteed high returns, to check companies and projects before investing, and not to share card details or SMS codes. The statement does not say whether the advertisement this woman saw was itself a deepfake video, and does not give a count of victims or losses across the 119 cases.

Reported harm

A woman in Taldykorgan transferred more than 7 million tenge to fraudsters after an Instagram trading advertisement and could not withdraw the supposed returns; the Prosecutor General's Office registered 119 such fraud cases nationwide in about six weeks, in a scheme whose lure is deepfake celebrity videos and fake 'AI' platforms.

Outcome

Ongoing

Prosecutor General's Office public warning reported on 16 September 2026 by Kazlenta (12:54), Tengrinews, Informburo, Kursiv and Kazpravda. A pre-trial investigation into the Taldykorgan report of large-scale fraud is under way. No arrests or recoveries are reported.

What remains unknown

  • Whether the Instagram advertisement seen by the Taldykorgan woman was itself a deepfake video or a fake 'AI platform' page.
  • The number of victims and total losses across the 119 registered cases; the exact period ('the last one and a half months' before mid-September 2026).
  • Whether any suspects have been identified or funds recovered.
  • The Prosecutor General's original release text was not reached (gov.kz is JavaScript-only to this host); the record relies on five press relays of the press service.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: reported. The Prosecutor General's Office describes the scheme's lure as deepfake videos of celebrities and fake 'AI' platforms placed on social networks; no technical verification is published, and the statement does not say whether the Taldykorgan woman's Instagram advertisement was itself a deepfake. The AI artifacts depicted and impersonated public figures; the victims' dealings were with human fraudsters.

2 claims: 2 reported. What the statuses mean

Reported The Prosecutor General's Office said that in the previous one and a half months 119 cases of fraud had been registered in Kazakhstan in a scheme that lures victims through social-media deepfake videos of celebrities and fake 'AI' investment platforms (named examples: 'Kaspi AI' with Mikhail Lomtadze, 'Quantum AI' with Elon Musk, 'TON' with Pavel Durov, 'people's investments' fronted by television news presenters).

Causal attribution. Single official statement relayed by five outlets; the 119 figure is a count of registered cases, and the deepfake description is the office's characterisation of the scheme.

  • kazpravda.kz(opens in new tab) supports · Russian
    "Только за последние полтора месяца по стране было зарегистрировано 119 таких фактов"; "создают дипфейк-видео со знаменитостями и фейковые ИИ-платформы, обещающие сверхвысокий пассивный доход".
  • informburo.kz(opens in new tab) supports · Russian
    "В Казахстане за последние полтора месяца зарегистрировали 119 случаев мошенничества под видом трейдинга с использованием дипфейков, сообщили в Генеральной прокуратуре".
  • tengrinews.kz(opens in new tab) supports · Russian
    "По информации Генпрокуратуры, только за последние полтора месяца по стране зарегистрировано 119 таких фактов".
  • kz.kursiv.media(opens in new tab) supports · Russian
    "Только за последние полтора месяца в стране зарегистрировали 119 фактов мошенничества".
Reported In September 2026 a woman from Taldykorgan reported large-scale fraud: after an Instagram advertisement offering super-profits from share trading she left her details, was contacted by the fraudsters and on their instructions transferred more than 7 million tenge to third-party accounts; the money and supposed dividends showed in a fake wallet she could not cash out; a pre-trial investigation is under way.

Causal attribution. The office's account of one registered case, given as an example of the scheme; whether the advertisement she saw was a deepfake video is not stated.

  • kazpravda.kz(opens in new tab) supports · Russian
    "В сентябре текущего года жительница Талдыкоргана обратилась с заявлением по факту мошенничества в особо крупном размере"; "перевела на счета 3-их лиц более 7 млн"; "По указанному факту проводится досудебное расследование".
  • tengrinews.kz(opens in new tab) supports · Russian
    "Одной из жертв мошенников стала жительница Талдыкоргана"; "Перечисленные ею деньги и якобы дивиденды отображались в фейковом кошельке, однако возможность их обналичить мошенники не предоставили. По указанному факту проводится досудебное расследование".
  • kazlenta.kz(opens in new tab) supports · Russian
    "Более 7 млн тенге перевела злоумышленникам жительница Талдыкоргана, поверив в рекламу о сверхприбыли от трейдинга"; "Вывести средства женщина не смогла".
  • informburo.kz(opens in new tab) supports · Russian
    "она перевела на счета третьих лиц более 7 млн тенге".

Sources

5 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

Read in Russian on 2026-09-19 (Kazakhstanskaya Pravda, Dana Amenova, 16 Sep 2026), citing the Prosecutor General's press service; quotations in this record are the reviewer's translations from the Russian body. Applies to s1.

Read in Russian on 2026-09-19 (Informburo.kz, 16 Sep 2026). Same Prosecutor General statement, with the office's quoted description of the Taldykorgan case. Applies to s2.

Read in Russian on 2026-09-19 (Tengrinews, 16 Sep 2026). Same statement; carries the office's quoted sentence on the fake wallet and the pre-trial investigation. Applies to s3.

Read in Russian on 2026-09-19 (Kazlenta.kz, 16 Sep 2026, the earliest report found). Same statement. Applies to s4.

Read in Russian on 2026-09-19 (Kursiv Media, 16 Sep 2026). Same statement. Applies to s5.

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

Nationwide registrations in Kazakhstan per the Prosecutor General's Office; the identified victim lives in Taldykorgan (Zhetysu region). No court proceeding reported.

Reviewed for publication 2026-09-19: Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as an impersonation-fraud series with an official source: the Prosecutor General's Office reports 119 registered cases in about six weeks lured by deepfake celebrity videos and fake 'AI' platforms, and one identified anonymous victim who lost more than 7 million tenge. Five Russian-language bodies read, all relaying one official statement (claims reported); person count kept to the one identified victim plus unquantified others.

People described

People across Kazakhstan who responded to social-media trading advertisements (119 registered cases, no person count); one identified woman in Taldykorgan, not named

People reported harmed in this case

At least 1 person

0 AI participants · 1 other person harmed

Additional affected people are described without a reliable count.

One identified victim (the Taldykorgan woman, more than 7 million tenge). The 119 figure counts registered fraud cases ('фактов'), not people, so the remaining victims are unquantified. One counted plus unquantified others: partial.

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

Tags

#deepfake#celebrity-impersonation#investment-fraud#trading-scam#fake-ai-platform#kazakhstan#prosecutor-general#financial-loss#instagram

Cite this case

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

APA

NOPE. (2026). Kazakhstan: the Prosecutor General's Office reported 119 trading-fraud cases registered in about six weeks, lured by deepfake videos of Elon Musk, Pavel Durov and other public figures and fake 'AI' platforms; a Taldykorgan woman transferred more than 7 million tenge. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2026-kazakhstan-deepfake-celebrity-trading-fraud-series

BibTeX

@misc{2026_kazakhstan_deepfake_celebrity_trading_fraud_series,
  title = {Kazakhstan: the Prosecutor General's Office reported 119 trading-fraud cases registered in about six weeks, lured by deepfake videos of Elon Musk, Pavel Durov and other public figures and fake 'AI' platforms; a Taldykorgan woman transferred more than 7 million tenge},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2026-kazakhstan-deepfake-celebrity-trading-fraud-series}
}

Related cases

Medium Unidentified video tool

Bengaluru: a security guard says a WhatsApp video call in which an alleged deepfake 'Chief Minister Vijay' offered him financial aid led to fake 'processing' charges and a fake CBI fine, and he lost more than Rs 1.04 lakh; Byappanahalli police register an IT Act case (September 2026)

A security guard in Bengaluru, originally from Odisha, told the Times of India that on 9 September 2026 he answered a WhatsApp video call in which a face and voice presented as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay introduced himself in Hindi, asked his name, work and where he lived and pressed him to accept financial help. A 'manager' then promised Rs 11 lakh, said Rs 5 lakh had been allotted to him and asked for a Rs 5,000 exchange charge, then Rs 18,000 to unlock a supposedly locked PIN; a caller posing as a CBI officer demanded more than Rs 50,000 as a fine. The fraudsters sent a fake allotment letter and a purported CBI officer's identity proof. He paid more than Rs 1.04 lakh through a digital payment app before refusing a further Rs 50,000 demand, called the 1930 cybercrime helpline and went to Byappanahalli police, who registered a case under the Information Technology Act. The Times of India says the fraudster allegedly used a deepfake AI-generated video and calls it the first such case reported in the city. No arrest is reported, and no link to the Tamil Nadu CB-CID deepfake case or its Alwar arrest has been established.

Medium Unidentified video tool

India: police say AI deepfake videos of Tamil Nadu CM Vijay offering aid defrauded people in several states; arrested Rajasthan man later granted bail

In 2026 AI-generated videos showing a simulated Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay speaking in a fabricated Hindi voice circulated on Facebook and other platforms, urging viewers to contact a WhatsApp number to receive money for education, medical treatment and other needs. The Tamil Nadu Crime Branch-CID detected the videos during routine monitoring, registered a case on 1 September 2026 under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act, and traced the scheme to Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. On 12 September a 28-year-old man from Alwar district was arrested with Rajasthan Police, brought to Tamil Nadu on a transit warrant and remanded in judicial custody; a phone, SIM cards and a CPU were seized. Investigators traced a man in Madhya Pradesh who had lost money, and said people in several states were cheated. The CB-CID is also examining similar videos posted from Facebook accounts suspected to be run from Pakistan. The Principal Sessions Court in Chennai refused bail on 14 October because the investigation was incomplete. On 23 October 2026 the Madras High Court granted him conditional bail, noting that he had been in custody since 12 September, that the investigation was complete, that the chargesheet was ready and that the phone allegedly used had been seized; he must report to the police daily. The prosecution told the court that he had created two Facebook accounts impersonating the Chief Minister, circulated the AI videos and collected Rs 16,000 as registration fees. His counsel said a friend generated the videos using his mobile number and accounts and that he had no knowledge of them. The allegations have not been tested at trial.

Medium Unidentified video tool

Hirosaki police (Aomori, Japan) say a man in his 40s lost ¥720,000 to an investment fraud that reached him through an AI-generated celebrity video

Hirosaki police in Aomori Prefecture, Japan, announced on 8 October 2026 that a man in his 40s living in the prefecture had been defrauded of ¥720,000 through a video, generated with artificial intelligence, of a real celebrity recommending investment, as reported by the Too Nippo newspaper. According to the police account, in about mid-July he followed a TikTok investment advertisement that impersonated a celebrity into LINE and Signal groups, made an initial profit on recommended shares, and then, at the suggestion of a LINE account, installed an investment app and transferred ¥720,000 from a convenience-store ATM to a designated account. When the app bought shares beyond his holdings and demanded the shortfall, he asked an AI, which pointed out that it might be fraud, and he realised he had been deceived. The celebrity and the tool used to make the video are not named.

Medium Unidentified video tool

Brazil: scammers used AI-cloned voices and images of children with cancer in fake donation campaigns; 16 arrested in Operação Sophia

On 14 July 2026 the Rio Grande do Sul Civil Police launched Operação Sophia against a group that used AI voice cloning and deepfake to turn real fundraising campaigns of children with cancer into fake donation appeals: AI-generated child voices asked for money in videos boosted by pages such as 'Clube de Doadores' and 'Unidos pelo Amor', leading donors to lookalike sites that issued Pix codes to shell companies. Sixteen people were arrested across five states. In the campaign that started the investigation — using the image of Kelen Santos's daughter, who was in cancer treatment — police traced R$294,500 diverted, and the investigation found a financial-hub company that moved more than R$1.7 million. The family had to tell congratulating donors that their money had gone to a scam.

If you or someone you know is struggling, free and confidential support is available. Find a helpline near you at Signpost.

Back to all incidents