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Medium reported severity Investigation Opened

Pleven, Bulgaria: prosecutors say woman lost 33,000 euros after a probably AI-generated social-media report of a TV host and a politician touting an investment

The Pleven District Prosecutor's Office in Bulgaria announced on 12 June 2026 that it was leading an investigation after a woman living in Pleven province reported an investment fraud. According to the prosecutors, she had been misled by a report broadcast on a social network, probably generated by artificial intelligence, in which a popular television presenter and a political leader promoted, in an interview, an investment programme supposedly introduced in Bulgaria. The release's headline says the report used the voices and faces of the two people. She followed the links in the report, was immediately called on Viber by a person who presented as the company's manager, and, on that person's instructions, transferred a total of 33,000 euros in several transactions of up to 10,000 euros each, after which contact stopped. The prosecutors do not say how they concluded that the report was AI-generated, do not name the people shown and report no suspect.

AI system
Unidentified video tool (suspected)
Occurred
Event date unknown
Reported
12 June 2026
Event location
Unknown
What the AI did
Depicted or impersonated the person
Reported harm
Financial Loss
Whose AI use
Someone else’s AI use
Setting
Finance
Evidence
AI involvement suspected · Causal attribution alleged · 2 sources, 1 underlying account
3 claims: 1 documented, 2 reported. 5 open questions
People reported harmed
1 person

AI system as recorded: Social-media video report showing a popular television presenter and a political leader promoting an investment programme, which the Pleven prosecutors say was probably generated by artificial intelligence with their voices and faces; no tool is named

What Happened

The report. According to the Pleven District Prosecutor's Office, the woman was misled by a report broadcast on a social network, which the release says was probably generated by artificial intelligence. In it, a popular television presenter and a political leader, in an interview, advertised that an investment programme had been introduced in Bulgaria that people with savings could join to improve their finances. The headline of the release describes the report as generated by artificial intelligence with the voices and faces of the two people.

The payments. Prosecutors say that, misled in this way, she followed the links given in the report and immediately received a call through Viber from a person who presented as the company's manager. The caller instructed her to transfer all her available funds to a bank account the caller named, in transfers of up to 10,000 euros each. She trusted the caller and made several transfers totalling 33,000 euros, after which communication with her stopped. The prosecutors put her property loss at 33,000 euros.

What is not known. The release does not name the presenter, the politician, the social network, the platform or the tool, does not say how the prosecutors concluded that the report was AI-generated (the body says 'probably'), and gives no dates for the payments. Vesti.bg relays the prosecution press centre's account without adding new facts.

Reported harm

Prosecutors say the woman transferred 33,000 euros in several transactions on a caller's instructions and lost the money.

How Harm Occurred

According to the Pleven prosecutors, a social-media report, probably AI-generated, in which a television presenter and a political leader appeared to promote an investment programme drew a woman to fraudsters' links; a caller then led her to transfer 33,000 euros.

Outcome

Unknown

The Pleven District Prosecutor's Office says the investigation continues under its supervision to establish the facts and identify those responsible (release of 12 June 2026). No suspect, charge or recovery of funds is reported; a Google News search on 27 October 2026 found no later development.

What remains unknown

  • Who the presenter and the political leader shown in the report are (the release does not name them).
  • Which social network, platform, bank account and tool were involved.
  • How the prosecutors concluded that the report was probably AI-generated.
  • When the report was seen and when the transfers were made.
  • Whether any suspect has been identified or any money recovered.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: suspected. The Pleven District Prosecutor's Office, which is leading the investigation, says in its own release that the woman was misled by a social-media report, probably generated by artificial intelligence, in which a television presenter and a political leader appeared to promote an investment programme; its headline says the report used their voices and faces. That generated report is what led her to the links and the caller who obtained her 33,000 euros. The status is suspected because the release hedges ('probably') and does not disclose how the prosecutors reached the conclusion or name the tool.

3 claims: 1 documented, 2 reported. What the statuses mean

Reported Pleven prosecutors say the woman was misled by a report broadcast on a social network, probably generated by artificial intelligence, in which a popular television presenter and a political leader promoted an investment programme said to have been introduced in Bulgaria; the release's headline says the report used their voices and faces.

Causal attribution. The investigating prosecutors' hedged attribution ('probably'); Vesti.bg relays the same press-centre statement (one origin). Technical basis not disclosed.

  • prb.bg(opens in new tab) supports · Bulgarian
    'чрез репортаж в социална мрежа, генериран от изкуствен интелект с гласове и лица на популярни телевизионен водещ и политически лидер'; 'По делото е установено, че пострадалата е била въведена в заблуждение чрез репортаж, излъчван в социална мрежа, вероятно генериран чрез изкуствен интелек.'; 'В него популярни лица - телевизионен водещ и политически лидер, в интервю рекламират, че в България е въведена инвестиционна програма'
  • vesti.bg(opens in new tab) supports · Bulgarian
    'пострадалата е въведена в заблуждение чрез репортаж, излъчван в социална мрежа, вероятно генериран чрез изкуствен интелект.'
Reported Prosecutors say she followed the links in the report, was immediately called on Viber by a person who presented as the company's manager, and on that person's instructions transferred a total of 33,000 euros in several transactions, after which communication stopped.

Causal attribution. Prosecution account of the complaint; one origin.

  • prb.bg(opens in new tab) supports · Bulgarian
    'пострадалата жена последвала посочените в репортажа линкове. Веднага получила обаждане чрез приложение „Вайбър“ от лице, представило се за мениджър на компанията'; 'Пострадалата се доверила и чрез няколко трансакции извършила банков превод на общата сума от 33 000 евро. Впоследствие комуникацията с нея била преустановена.'
  • vesti.bg(opens in new tab) supports · Bulgarian
    'Жената се доверила и чрез няколко транзакции извършила банков превод на общата сума от 33 000 евро.'
Documented Prosecutors say the investigation continues under the Pleven District Prosecutor's Office to establish the facts and identify those responsible.

Causal attribution. Directly established by the prosecutors' own release.

  • prb.bg(opens in new tab) supports · Bulgarian
    'Разследването по делото продължава под наблюдението на Районна прокуратура-Плевен'

Sources

2 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 Bulgarian by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-27 and translated by the research agent (an AI) into English; no human translator or reviewer was involved. Pleven District Prosecutor's Office release on the Prosecutor's Office of Bulgaria website, 12 June 2026; HTTP 200. Applies to s1.

Read in Bulgarian by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-27 and translated by the research agent (an AI) into English; no human translator or reviewer was involved. National news site relaying the prosecution press centre, 12 June 2026; HTTP 200. Applies to s2.

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

The release says the woman lives in Pleven province, Bulgaria, and that the report advertised a programme in Bulgaria; it does not say where she was when she watched it or made the transfers, or where the receiving account was, so no event country is recorded.

Reviewed for publication 2026-10-27: Published as a core case (depicted_or_impersonated): the investigating prosecutors attribute the social-media report that misled the woman, showing a television presenter and a political leader promoting an investment, to probable AI generation, and connect it to her 33,000-euro loss. AI involvement is recorded as suspected because the release says 'probably'. The woman is not named and her age is omitted.

People described

A woman living in Pleven province, Bulgaria, who followed links in the social-media report and then transferred money on a caller's instructions

People reported harmed in this case

1 person

0 AI participants · 1 other person harmed

One person: the woman described in the Pleven prosecutors' release of 12 June 2026, who lost 33,000 euros. The depicted presenter and politician have no reported response and are not counted.

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

Tags

#investment_fraud#fake_celebrity_video#bulgaria

Cite this case

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

APA

NOPE. (2026). Pleven, Bulgaria: prosecutors say woman lost 33,000 euros after a probably AI-generated social-media report of a TV host and a politician touting an investment. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2026-pleven-bulgaria-prosecutors-say-woman-lost-33000-euros-after-social-media-report-probably-ai-generated-with-presenter-and-politician

BibTeX

@misc{2026_pleven_bulgaria_prosecutors_say_woman_lost_33000_euros_after_social_media_report_probably_ai_generated_with_presenter_and_politician,
  title = {Pleven, Bulgaria: prosecutors say woman lost 33,000 euros after a probably AI-generated social-media report of a TV host and a politician touting an investment},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2026-pleven-bulgaria-prosecutors-say-woman-lost-33000-euros-after-social-media-report-probably-ai-generated-with-presenter-and-politician}
}

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