Skip to main content
NOPE
Low reported severity Media Coverage

Padre Diego Jaramillo of El Minuto de Dios says in February 2026 that videos, described by his organisation as made with AI and with a voice that is not his, falsely show him selling collagen and health products

On 23 February 2026 the Minuto de Dios organisation issued a public alert that ads circulating on social networks used the name, image and AI-manipulated videos of its president, the priest Diego Jaramillo Cuartas, with a voice that is not his, to make it appear that he recommended or sold health formulas. In a video published on the organisation's channels, Jaramillo said his image was being used as if he were a collagen seller and that this was totally false. The organisation called the ads deceptive advertising and said it was seeking their removal and reporting the facts to the authorities. No report says whether anyone bought the products.

AI system
Unidentified video tool
Occurred
Feb 2026
Reported
23 February 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 · Work
Evidence
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution supported · 4 sources, 1 underlying account
4 claims: 4 reported. 5 open questions
People reported harmed
At least 1 person

AI system as recorded: Ads using videos of the priest that El Minuto de Dios describes as manipulated with artificial intelligence and paired with a voice that is not his; Semana reports that spokespeople cited lip-sync and voice-cloning tools; the tool and operators are not identified

What Happened

UNIMINUTO Radio, the organisation's radio service, reported on 23 February 2026 that a public alert had been issued about ads on several digital platforms that used the name, image and AI-manipulated videos of Jaramillo, with a voice that does not correspond to his, to simulate that he recommended or sold 'hidden' formulas for various ailments. The organisation said he does not sell or recommend any health products, that such ads mislead consumers and exploit the community's trust, and that it was already acting to demand removal of the content and to bring the facts to the authorities. Infobae (24 February 2026) quotes the organisation's Instagram post saying a fake video created with artificial intelligence was circulating, and Jaramillo's own video: 'Están usando mi imagen como si fuera yo un vendedor de colágeno. Eso es totalmente falso.' He added that he had been told his image was being used, perhaps with artificial intelligence or some transformations, and that he has nothing to do with any collagen producer or distributor. Semana (24 February 2026) reports that spokespeople said lip-sync and voice-cloning tools were used and that the videos pressed people to buy because the products would 'soon be removed'. In an interview with Noticias Caracol (25 February 2026), Jaramillo said colleagues at the organisation told him about the ads and recorded his denial, and that he thought the advertisers were exploiting his age.

Reported harm

Ads showed the priest apparently recommending and selling health products he has nothing to do with, and he had to deny it publicly (his video statement and the Minuto de Dios alert, relayed by UNIMINUTO Radio, Infobae and Noticias Caracol).

Outcome

Unknown

The organisation published an alert and a video statement by Jaramillo on 23 February 2026 and said it was seeking removal of the content and reporting the facts to the authorities (UNIMINUTO Radio). Infobae, Semana and Noticias Caracol reported it on 24 and 25 February 2026. No takedown result, complaint outcome or consumer loss is reported.

What remains unknown

  • How widely the ads were seen, and whether they ran on platforms beyond those Semana names (Facebook and Instagram).
  • Whether anyone bought the products or lost money.
  • Whether the content was removed and what the authorities did.
  • Which tool was used and who made the ads.
  • When the ads first appeared; the alert of 23 February 2026 describes them as already circulating.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: reported. The organisation's alert describes a fake video created with artificial intelligence (Instagram post quoted by Infobae) and videos manipulated with AI with a voice that is not his (UNIMINUTO Radio, which also uses 'presuntamente'). Jaramillo himself said 'tal vez con inteligencia artificial'. Semana reports spokespeople citing lip-sync and voice cloning. The videos were not inspected and no tool is named. They depicted and voiced him (depicted_or_impersonated).

4 claims: 4 reported. What the statuses mean

Reported In an alert of 23 February 2026, the Minuto de Dios organisation said ads on digital platforms were using Jaramillo's name, image and videos manipulated with artificial intelligence, with a voice that is not his, to simulate that he recommended or sold health formulas, and said he does not sell or recommend any health products.

Causal attribution. The organisation's description; the videos were not inspected.

  • uniminutoradio.com.co(opens in new tab) supports · Spanish
    'Según la advertencia, en distintas plataformas digitales se han difundido anuncios que emplean el nombre, la imagen y videos manipulados con inteligencia artificial del sacerdote, acompañados de una voz que no corresponde a la suya.'; 'En estos contenidos se simula que el padre Jaramillo recomienda o vende fórmulas “ocultas” para tratar diversas afecciones'; 'no vende, no recomienda ni tiene vínculo alguno con ninguna marca de productos ni fórmulas para mejorar la salud'
  • infobae.com(opens in new tab) supports · Spanish
    'Está circulando un video falso creado con inteligencia artificial en el que se utiliza la imagen del nuestro padre Diego Jaramillo Cuartas cjm, para promocionar productos para la salud'
Reported In a video statement, Jaramillo said his image was being used as if he were a collagen seller, that this was totally false, that he had been told it was being done perhaps with artificial intelligence, and that he has nothing to do with any collagen producer or distributor.

Causal attribution. His own public statement.

  • infobae.com(opens in new tab) supports · Spanish
    'Están usando mi imagen como si fuera yo un vendedor de colágeno. Eso es totalmente falso.'; 'No tengo absolutamente nada que ver con ninguna firma productora o distribuidora de colágeno'
  • noticiascaracol.com(opens in new tab) supports · Spanish
    'Me han informado que han estado usando mi imagen, y tal vez con inteligencia artificial, o haciendo algunas transformaciones.'
Reported The organisation said such ads mislead consumers and exploit the community's trust, and that it was acting to demand removal of the content and to bring the facts to the authorities.

Causal attribution. The organisation's statement.

  • uniminutoradio.com.co(opens in new tab) supports · Spanish
    'induce al error a los consumidores y se aprovecha de la confianza y la buena fe de la comunidad'; 'La institución informó que ya adelanta gestiones para exigir el retiro de estos contenidos y poner los hechos en conocimiento de las autoridades'
Reported According to Semana, spokespeople for the organisation said the makers used lip-sync and voice-cloning tools to make the deception credible.

Causal attribution. Spokespeople's account as reported by Semana.

  • semana.com(opens in new tab) supports · Spanish
    'los delincuentes utilizan herramientas de sincronización labial y clonación de voz para otorgar veracidad al engaño'

Sources

4 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 live in Spanish on 2026-10-02 (UNIMINUTO Radio, 23 February 2026). The radio network of UNIMINUTO, part of the Minuto de Dios organisation (page footer), relaying the organisation's alert in the third person. Researcher translation. Applies to s1.

Read live in Spanish on 2026-10-02 (Infobae, 24 February 2026); quotes the organisation's Instagram post and his video statement. Researcher translation. Applies to s2.

Read live in Spanish on 2026-10-02 (Noticias Caracol, 25 February 2026); interview with Jaramillo plus his video statement, the same account of his own case. Researcher translation. Applies to s3.

Read live in Spanish on 2026-10-02 (Semana, 24 February 2026); relays the organisation's statement and spokespeople. Researcher translation. Applies to s4.

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

Infobae says he presents El Minuto de Dios on Colombian national television before the evening news, and Semana calls it the oldest television programme in Colombia, so his country is recorded as Colombia. The sources say the ads ran on digital platforms and social networks (Semana: mainly Facebook and Instagram) and give no place where they were shown, so no event country is recorded.

Reviewed for publication 2026-10-02: Published as a core case (depicted_or_impersonated), consistent with the Tietjen health-ad row: ads described by his organisation as AI-manipulated showed the priest apparently selling health products, and he denied it publicly. He is a public figure speaking about his own case and is named as all sources do. One underlying account (the organisation's alert and his statements) read across four outlets; all claims stay reported.

People described

Diego Jaramillo Cuartas, 93-year-old priest, president of the Minuto de Dios organisation and long-time presenter of the television programme El Minuto de Dios (public figure speaking publicly about his own case)

People reported harmed in this case

At least 1 person

0 AI participants · 1 other person harmed

One person, Diego Jaramillo Cuartas (UNIMINUTO Radio; Infobae; Noticias Caracol). The organisation says it is acting to 'evitar que más personas sean engañadas' (UNIMINUTO Radio), and Semana writes of preventing 'nuevas víctimas'. These imply possible further victims but report none, and no buyer or loss is reported. Viewers are not counted. Documented minimum 1.

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

Tags

#deepfakes#celebrity-deepfake#fake-advertisement#health-product-scam#voice-cloning#religious-leader#spanish-language

Cite this case

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

APA

NOPE. (2026). Padre Diego Jaramillo of El Minuto de Dios says in February 2026 that videos, described by his organisation as made with AI and with a voice that is not his, falsely show him selling collagen and health products. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2026-padre-diego-jaramillo-minuto-de-dios-ai-manipulated-videos-advertise-health-products

BibTeX

@misc{2026_padre_diego_jaramillo_minuto_de_dios_ai_manipulated_videos_advertise_health_products,
  title = {Padre Diego Jaramillo of El Minuto de Dios says in February 2026 that videos, described by his organisation as made with AI and with a voice that is not his, falsely show him selling collagen and health products},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2026-padre-diego-jaramillo-minuto-de-dios-ai-manipulated-videos-advertise-health-products}
}

Related cases

Low Unidentified video tool (suspected)

TV presenter Bettina Tietjen warns on Facebook in September 2026 that fake videos, described by outlets as AI deepfakes, show her advertising a remedy for Alzheimer's, and says scammers are behind them

Bettina Tietjen, host of the 'NDR Talk Show', wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday 29 September 2026 that videos were apparently circulating in which she advertised a remedy for Alzheimer's. 'Das sind Fake-Videos, dahinter stecken Betrüger', she wrote, asking people not to fall for them. The spot on news agency (via Abendzeitung München) reports that she has nothing to do with the advertised product. MOPO describes the clips as fake AI videos, and spot on news and TAG24 say they are apparently deepfakes made or altered with artificial intelligence. No report says whether anyone bought the product, and no complaint or takedown is reported.

Low Unidentified video tool

Actor Tony Ramos's interview on Ana Maria Braga's 'Mais Você' is digitally altered and redubbed into a fake advertisement for a prostate remedy, reported as made with AI; Terra reported his team's warning in December 2023 and he recounted it on 'Roda Viva' in September 2026

Terra reported on 6 December 2023 that the team of the actor Tony Ramos, then appearing in the telenovela 'Terra e Paixão', had warned that an interview he gave to Ana Maria Braga's programme 'Mais Você' was digitally altered to promote a supposedly miraculous remedy for prostate hyperplasia. According to the team, his words were edited with advanced technology to make it seem he endorsed the product, his voice was redubbed, and the original footage was a tribute to fellow professionals. Terra describes the clips as fake videos created with artificial intelligence. On the TV programme 'Roda Viva' on 28 September 2026, Ramos said his image had been stolen from that interview, badly dubbed and made to sell a prostate medicine (Estado de Minas, 29 September 2026), and Estado de Minas describes the clip as a deepfake that circulated on social networks. No buyer losses, complaint or takedown are reported.

Low Unidentified video tool

Montreal: Dr. François Marquis, chief of intensive care at Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital, says AI deepfake ads using his face have sold supplements and cancer cures on Facebook since at least August 2025, and that a scam victim who paid hundreds of dollars for pills that never arrived came to the ICU demanding a refund

Dr. François Marquis, chief of intensive care at Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital in Montreal, told CBC News (August 2025) and CTV News and CBC News (September 2026) that AI-generated deepfake videos using his likeness keep appearing on Facebook, selling joint supplements, pills and cancer cures and spreading anti-pharmaceutical claims; the latest offers $1 million to dissatisfied customers. He is not on social media and learns of the videos from people who call him. He recounts that a person who paid hundreds of dollars for pills advertised in one of the videos, and never received them, came into the ICU demanding his money back, which he describes as a security problem for the hospital. He has reported the deepfakes to Quebec's College of Physicians, Montreal police and the platforms, but says new videos keep appearing. The makers of the ads are not identified.

Low Unidentified video tool

Honduras: Criterio.hn's fact-check desk finds three Facebook videos altered with AI in which plastic surgeon Emec Cherenfant appears to promote a home remedy for prostatitis; he says scammers keep using his name and image

El Mirón, the verification section of Criterio.hn, reported on 30 September 2026 that it found three videos on a Facebook profile, altered in image and audio, that use the image of the plastic and reconstructive surgeon Emec Cherenfant to offer a remedy for prostatitis and related problems. In the videos his artificial image says he helped former footballers beat prostatitis without surgery and invites viewers to write to him on WhatsApp. El Mirón says the manipulation is evident from the vocabulary, voice and body movements and that the detector ZeroGPT flagged the videos as AI-made. The hospital where he offers his services told El Mirón the advertising is deceptive. Cherenfant said he has nothing to do with prostate treatment, that scammers repeatedly use his name and image, and that he filed a complaint with the Ministerio Público two years ago. 'Son estafadores. No se dejen engañar, es pura inteligencia artificial', he said. No buyer losses are reported.

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