Lebanon police say pages sold remedies using AI-generated videos falsely showing a complainant endorsing them; arrests and raids followed
In a statement published on 28 October 2026, Lebanon's Internal Security Forces (ISF) said their Cybercrime and Intellectual Property Bureau had received a complaint, filed with the competent judiciary, against Facebook and TikTok pages that promoted various medicines and preparations using videos generated by artificial intelligence, in which the complainant appeared in a way that falsely suggested the complainant was promoting the products. The products were said to treat stomach and joint pain, prostate and heart problems, blood sugar and blood pressure, and included sexual enhancers and slimming preparations. A patrol caught two people in the act of handing dozens of orders to a delivery company, with 13,602 US dollars they said came from daily sales; raids in Beirut and other areas led to further arrests and the seizure of thousands of containers. The ISF said some mixtures did not match the ingredients on the labels, that paper records of thousands of orders indicated a large number of buyers, and that the Ministry of Public Health was testing the seized products. The ISF did not say how it established that the videos were AI-generated, and the complainant is not named.
- AI system
- Unidentified video tool
- Occurred
- Event date unknown
- Reported
- 28 October 2026
- Event location
- Lebanon
- What the AI did
- Depicted or impersonated the person
- Reported harm
- Reputational HarmOther Material Harm
- Whose AI use
- Someone else’s AI use
- Setting
- Health · Finance · Everyday life
- Evidence
- AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 2 sources, 1 underlying account
- 6 claims: 6 reported. 5 open questions
- People reported harmed
- At least 1 person
AI system as recorded: AI-generated promotional videos on Facebook and TikTok pages, described by Lebanon's Internal Security Forces as generated by artificial intelligence (tool not identified)
What Happened
The complaint. The Internal Security Forces statement says the Cybercrime and Intellectual Property Bureau received a complaint filed with the competent judiciary against suspicious Facebook and TikTok pages that promoted medicines and preparations using videos generated by artificial intelligence, in which the complainant appeared in a way that falsely suggested the complainant was promoting the products.
The products. They were presented as treatments for stomach and joint pain, prostate and heart problems, blood sugar and blood pressure, and included sexual enhancers and slimming preparations.
Arrests. According to the ISF, a patrol caught two people in the act in the Salim Salam area while handing dozens of orders to a delivery company; 13,602 US dollars found on them was, they said, from daily sales. Raids in Barbour (Beirut), Dbayeh, Choueifat and Daraya led to further arrests and the seizure of thousands of empty and filled containers, pills (some of unknown content), herbs, and packaging equipment. One apartment was used to run the online marketing and take orders, and large sums from sales were transferred to a person in Turkey, the statement says.
Contents and buyers. The ISF says some mixtures did not match the ingredients listed on the products, some were capsules of herbs of unknown origin, and some products sold as sexual enhancers contained spice mixtures. Paper records of thousands of orders indicate, it says, that a large number of people bought the products; the Ministry of Public Health was asked to test them.
Limits. The ISF's own post says the suspects promoted the products using AI, but neither the statement nor the post says how the videos were identified as AI-generated or which tool was used. The complainant is not named, and no illness or financial loss of an individual buyer is reported.
Reported harm
Police say the complainant's likeness was used without consent in AI-generated videos to endorse remedies, and that buyers placed thousands of orders for preparations whose contents in part did not match their labels (police statement; testing pending).
How Harm Occurred
According to the police, AI-generated videos falsely showing the complainant endorsing the remedies were used on Facebook and TikTok pages to sell preparations whose contents in part did not match their labels, misusing the complainant's likeness and drawing buyers to products of unknown content.
Outcome
PendingThe ISF says two people were arrested in the act and further suspects were arrested in raids, a notice was circulated for one person in hiding and work continues to arrest the others on the judiciary's instructions; the Ministry of Public Health was asked to test the seized pills and preparations. No charges, court proceedings or test results are reported.
What remains unknown
- Who the complainant is and how the complainant learned of the videos.
- How the ISF established that the videos were AI-generated, and which tool was used.
- How many people bought the products, and whether any buyer was harmed by them.
- When the pages began operating and when the arrests took place.
- The results of the Ministry of Public Health tests and any charges filed.
What the evidence supports
AI involvement: reported. Lebanon's Internal Security Forces, which investigated the complaint, say the pages promoted the products with videos generated by artificial intelligence in which the complainant falsely appeared to endorse them, and the ISF's own post says the suspects used AI to promote the preparations. The generated depiction was the advertising through which the products were sold. The ISF does not disclose how it established that the videos were AI-generated or which tool was used.
6 claims: 6 reported. What the statuses mean
Reported The ISF says its Cybercrime Bureau received a complaint, filed with the judiciary, against Facebook and TikTok pages that promoted medicines and preparations using AI-generated videos in which the complainant appeared in a way that falsely suggested the complainant was promoting the products.
Causal attribution. Police statement; the technical basis for calling the videos AI-generated is not disclosed.
- kataeb.org(opens in new tab) supports · Arabic
صدر عن المديرية العامة لقوى الأمن الداخلي ـ شعبة العلاقات العامة البلاغ التالي: ... وردت إلى المكتب شكوى مقدّمة أمام القضاء المختص ضدّ صفحات مشبوهة على منصّتَي «Facebook» و«TikTok»، تروّج لأنواع مختلفة من الأدوية والمستحضرات باستخدام مقاطع فيديو مولّدة بواسطة الذكاء الاصطناعي، يظهر فيها المدّعي بصورة توحي زورًا بأنّه يروّج لهذه المنتجات.
- lebanonon.com(opens in new tab) supports · Arabic
وردت إلى المكتب شكوى مقدّمة أمام القضاء المختص ضدّ صفحات مشبوهة على منصّتَي «Facebook» و«TikTok»، تروّج لأنواع مختلفة من الأدوية والمستحضرات باستخدام مقاطع فيديو مولّدة بواسطة الذكاء الاصطناعي، يظهر فيها المدّعي بصورة توحي زورًا بأنّه يروّج لهذه المنتجات.
Reported The ISF's official post says the suspects used AI to promote medical preparations of unknown content on social media.
Causal attribution. Police post embedded in the article; basis not disclosed.
- kataeb.org(opens in new tab) supports · Arabic
باستخدام الذكاء الاصطناعي، روّجوا لمستحضرات طبية مجهولة المحتوى عبر مواقع التواصل الاجتماعي
Reported The ISF says the products were presented as treatments for stomach and joint pain, prostate and heart problems, blood sugar and blood pressure, and included sexual enhancers and slimming preparations.
Causal attribution. Police statement.
- kataeb.org(opens in new tab) supports · Arabic
وشملت المنتجات المروّج لها مستحضرات يُزعم أنّها مخصّصة لعلاج آلام المعدة والمفاصل، ومشكلات البروستات والقلب، وتنظيم معدّلات السكّر وضغط الدم، إضافةً إلى مقوّيات جنسية ومستحضرات للتنحيف.
Reported The ISF says a patrol caught two people in the act while depositing dozens of orders with a delivery company, with 13,602 US dollars they said came from daily sales, and that raids led to further arrests, with one person in hiding sought.
Causal attribution. Police statement; no charges or court proceedings are reported.
- kataeb.org(opens in new tab) supports · Arabic
وتمكّنت إحدى دوريّاته من توقيف شخصَين بالجرم المشهود في محلّة سليم سلام، أثناء قيامهما بإيداع عشرات الطلبيّات لدى إحدى شركات التوصيل ... وضُبط بحوزتهما مبلغ /13,602/ دولارًا أميركيًّا، أفادا بأنّه ناتج عن عمليّات البيع اليوميّة لهذه المنتجات. ... نفّذ المكتب سلسلة مداهمات في محلّات بربور – بيروت، والدبيّة، والشويفات، وداريا، أسفرت عن توقيف عدد من المتورّطين ... كما جرى تعميم بلاغ بحقّ أحد المتوارين عن الأنظار، ولا يزال العمل جاريًا لتوقيف باقي المتورّطين
Reported The ISF says some mixtures did not match the ingredients listed on the products and some were capsules filled with herbs of unknown origin.
Causal attribution. Police statement; laboratory testing was pending.
- kataeb.org(opens in new tab) supports · Arabic
وكشفت التحقيقات أنّ بعض الخلطات المستخدمة لا تتطابق مع المكوّنات المدوّنة على المنتجات، وأنّ بعضها كان يُحضَّر من أعشاب مجهولة المصدر تُعبَّأ داخل كبسولات.
Reported The ISF says paper records of thousands of orders indicate that a large number of people bought the products, and that the Ministry of Public Health was asked to test the seized products.
Causal attribution. Police statement; no buyer count or test result is given.
- kataeb.org(opens in new tab) supports · Arabic
وعُثر على مستندات ورقيّة تتضمّن بيانات آلاف الطلبيّات، ما يشير إلى أنّ عددًا كبيرًا من المواطنين اشتروا هذه المنتجات. وقد جرى تكليف وزارة الصحة العامّة بإجراء التحاليل المخبريّة اللازمة على الحبوب والمستحضرات المضبوطة، لتحديد مكوّناتها وطبيعتها.
Sources
2 sources inspected, from 1 underlying account. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.
- Kataeb.org, 28 Oct 2026: reproduction of the Internal Security Forces statement on remedies promoted with AI(opens in new tab)
s1 · kataeb.org · News report · Arabic · Inspected · 28 October 2026 · Shares an underlying account with another listed source · Primary
- Lebanon ON, 28 Oct 2026: AI used to promote unknown preparations, arrests in Lebanon(opens in new tab)
s2 · lebanonon.com · News report · Arabic · Inspected · Shares an underlying account with another listed source
How the sources were read, and where the events happened
Read in Arabic by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-29 (HTTP 200): a full reproduction of the ISF Directorate General statement and the embedded post of the ISF's official account. Translated by the research agent (an AI); no human translator. Applies to s1.
Read in Arabic by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-29 (HTTP 200, published 28 Oct 2026 16:25). It reproduces the same ISF statement, so it is not independent of s1. Its headline figure of five arrests is not used. Translated by the research agent (an AI). Applies to s2.
Event countries: Lebanon. Affected-person countries: Unknown. Court countries: Unknown.
The ISF statement places the arrests and raids in Salim Salam, Barbour (Beirut), Dbayeh, Choueifat and Daraya and says the complaint was filed with the competent judiciary, which directs the investigation. Where the complainant and the buyers live is not stated.
Reviewed for publication 2026-10-29: Published because the investigating police state, in their own statement and post, that AI-generated videos falsely showed the complainant endorsing remedies sold through social-media pages, and report arrests and products that did not match their labels. The police do not disclose the technical basis of the AI attribution; the claims are attributed to the ISF.
People described
The complainant, who appeared in the AI-generated videos as if endorsing the products and filed a complaint with the judiciary (identity not stated), and buyers of the products, described by the police only as a large number
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 counted: the complainant, shown in the AI-generated videos, who filed a complaint with the judiciary. The buyers are described by the police only as a large number (paper records of thousands of orders); orders are not people, so no buyer count is recorded.
Counted once within this case. The same person may appear in other cases. This count does not establish AI causation.
Cite this case
Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.
APA
NOPE. (2026). Lebanon police say pages sold remedies using AI-generated videos falsely showing a complainant endorsing them; arrests and raids followed. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2026-lebanon-police-say-ai-generated-videos-falsely-showed-complainant-promoting-remedies-sold-online-arrests-made
BibTeX
@misc{2026_lebanon_police_say_ai_generated_videos_falsely_showed_complainant_promoting_remedies_sold_online_arrests_made,
title = {Lebanon police say pages sold remedies using AI-generated videos falsely showing a complainant endorsing them; arrests and raids followed},
author = {NOPE},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {AI incidents},
url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2026-lebanon-police-say-ai-generated-videos-falsely-showed-complainant-promoting-remedies-sold-online-arrests-made}
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