{ "meta": { "exportedAt": "2026-09-22T17:47:43.634Z", "formatVersion": 2, "selection": { "q": "bank-fraud", "system": "", "harm": "", "context": "", "country": "", "role": "", "relation": "", "evidence": "", "year": "2025", "response": "", "severity": "", "verification": "", "view": "incidents", "sort": "added" }, "totalIncidents": 2, "coverage": { "cases": 2, "countries": 2, "languages": 2, "unknownLocation": 0, "locationPending": 0, "unknownLanguage": 0, "unknownDate": 0, "lawsuits": 1, "regulatory": 0, "minors": 0, "coreRelations": 0, "contextualRelations": 1, "mixedRelations": 0, "unknownRelations": 1, "relationPending": 0, "relationUnknown": 1 }, "countingNote": "Distinct public cases in this selection. People counts apply within individual cases only; cross-case person overlap has not been resolved. No population incidence estimate.", "affectedCountNote": "Interpret person counts with affectedCountStatus and the reported effects. Unquantified zeros are placeholders, not a measured zero.", "source": "NOPE Incident Tracker", "url": "https://nope.net/incidents", "license": "CC BY 4.0" }, "incidents": [ { "id": "2026-ca-mau-ai-fake-bank-disbursement-messages-loan-fraud", "caseFacts": { "claims": [ { "id": "c1", "status": "reported", "evidence": [ { "locator": "'dùng công nghệ trí tuệ nhân tạo (AI) để làm giả các tin nhắn thông báo giải ngân từ ngân hàng rồi gửi cho nạn nhân xem'; 'hứa sau khi rút được tiền vay sẽ hoàn trả toàn bộ và cho bà L. mượn thêm một khoản tiền'", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" }, { "locator": "'do áp lực nợ nần và nhu cầu chi tiêu cá nhân, đầu tháng 9/2025'; 'Đối tượng tung tin giả rằng hồ sơ vay vốn ngân hàng bằng gói bảo hiểm của mình đã được duyệt'; 'dựng lên các tin nhắn thông báo giải ngân giả từ phía ngân hàng rồi gửi cho nạn nhân xem'", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s4" }, { "locator": "'dùng AI làm giả tin nhắn của ngân hàng thể hiện khoản vay đã được giải ngân rồi cho nạn nhân xem'", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s2" } ], "assertion": "From early September 2025 the accused told the victim her insurance-backed bank loan had been approved and asked to borrow money for travel and paperwork while awaiting disbursement, and used AI technology to fabricate bank disbursement-notification messages that she showed the victim, promising full repayment and an onward loan.", "causal_attribution": "Cà Mau police account (one chain)." }, { "id": "c2", "status": "reported", "evidence": [ { "locator": "'từ tháng 9 đến tháng 11-2025'; 'tổng số tiền hơn 444 triệu đồng'", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" }, { "locator": "'Từ ngày 9/9 đến 4/11/2025, người phụ nữ đã đưa và chuyển cho'; 'hơn 440 triệu đồng'", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s2" }, { "locator": "'từ ngày 9/9/2025 đến ngày 4/11/2025, bà L. đã liên tục giao tiền mặt lẫn chuyển khoản'; 'tổng số tiền lên tới hơn 444 triệu đồng'", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s4" } ], "assertion": "Trusting the messages, the victim handed over cash and made transfers many times between 9 September and 4 November 2025, totalling more than 444 million đồng.", "causal_attribution": "Police figures; the loss is attributed to the accused's deception." }, { "id": "c3", "status": "reported", "evidence": [ { "locator": "'Đến ngày 4-11-2025, nghi ngờ có dấu hiệu bất thường, bà L. trực tiếp đến ngân hàng kiểm tra thì mới phát hiện'", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" }, { "locator": "'khi bà L. trực tiếp tới chi nhánh ngân hàng để xác minh và phát hiện'", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s4" } ], "assertion": "On 4 November 2025 the victim went to the bank branch, found that no loan file existed and that the earlier information was false, and reported the matter to police.", "causal_attribution": "Police account." }, { "id": "c4", "status": "reported", "evidence": [ { "locator": "'Ngày 19-9, Cơ quan cảnh sát điều tra Công an tỉnh Cà Mau cho biết đã khởi tố bị can, bắt tạm giam và khám xét nơi ở của'; 'để điều tra về hành vi \"lừa đảo chiếm đoạt tài sản\"'", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" }, { "locator": "'Ngày 19/9, Cơ quan Cảnh sát điều tra Công an tỉnh Cà Mau cho biết, đơn vị vừa khởi tố bị can, bắt tạm giam và khám xét nơi ở của'", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s3" }, { "locator": "'để điều tra hành vi Lừa đảo chiếm đoạt tài sản'", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s2" } ], "assertion": "On 19 September 2026 the Cà Mau provincial police investigation agency announced that it had prosecuted, detained and searched the residence of the 25-year-old accused from Phú Tân commune for fraud (lừa đảo chiếm đoạt tài sản).", "causal_attribution": "Police announcement." } ], "effects": [ { "label": "more than 444 million đồng handed over as 'loans' after AI-fabricated bank disbursement messages were shown to the victim", "claim_id": "c2", "direction": "negative" } ], "sources": [ { "id": "s1", "url": "https://tuoitre.vn/co-gai-dung-ai-gia-tin-nhan-ngan-hang-lua-hon-444-trieu-dong-cua-nguoi-quen-100260919161334249.htm", "kind": "news_report", "access": "read", "language": "vi", "translation_note": "Read live in Vietnamese on 2026-09-20 (HTTP 200). Police account; photo credited to the police (CACC). Quotations translated by the reviewer.", "independence_group": "cong-an-ca-mau-2026-09-19" }, { "id": "s2", "url": "https://vnexpress.net/dung-ai-tao-tin-nhan-gia-cua-ngan-hang-lua-hon-400-trieu-dong-5122249.html", "kind": "news_report", "access": "read", "language": "vi", "translation_note": "Read live in Vietnamese on 2026-09-20 (HTTP 200). Same police account; photo credited to Công an Cà Mau.", "independence_group": "cong-an-ca-mau-2026-09-19" }, { "id": "s3", "url": "https://phunuvietnam.vn/bat-nu-doi-tuong-dung-ai-lua-dao-hon-440-trieu-dong-238260919170230385.htm", "kind": "news_report", "access": "read", "language": "vi", "translation_note": "Read live in Vietnamese on 2026-09-20 (HTTP 200). Same police account; arrest-reading photo credited CACC.", "independence_group": "cong-an-ca-mau-2026-09-19" }, { "id": "s4", "url": "https://docnhanh.vn/phap-luat/khoi-to-nguoi-phu-nu-dung-ai-tao-tin-nhan-ngan-hang-gia-lua-dao-hon-440-trieu-dong-tintuc1052048", "kind": "news_report", "access": "read", "language": "vi", "translation_note": "Read live in Vietnamese on 2026-09-20 (HTTP 200). Same police account with the fullest narrative of the pretext (insurance-package loan, travel and paperwork costs). The page is credited 'TN (SHTT)' and links its source at sohuutritue.net.vn, so it is a republication within the same police chain.", "independence_group": "cong-an-ca-mau-2026-09-19" } ], "version": 1, "ai_roles": [ "others_use" ], "contexts": [ "finance", "everyday_life" ], "unknowns": [ "The AI tool used to fabricate the messages is not identified and no message is reproduced.", "Whether any of the money was recovered is not reported.", "The victim's relationship to the accused beyond 'acquaintance in the same locality' is not stated.", "No court date is reported." ], "geography": { "basis": "Accused and victim both in Phú Tân commune, Cà Mau province; prosecution by the Cà Mau provincial police investigation agency (all inspected reports). No court hearing yet.", "court_countries": [], "event_countries": [ "VN" ], "affected_person_countries": [ "VN" ] }, "publication": { "basis": "Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as a fraud case in which an AI-fabricated artifact (fake bank notifications) caused a documented financial loss to one identified (unnamed) person, with a prosecution announced by police. Four Vietnamese reports read, all carrying one police account; claims recorded as reported. The victim appears only by initials; the accused, named by police, is not named here because the case is untried.", "reviewed_on": "2026-09-20" }, "ai_involvement": { "basis": "Cà Mau police state that the accused used artificial-intelligence technology to fabricate bank disbursement-notification messages and showed them to the victim to gain her trust. The AI artifact imitated a bank's notifications rather than communicating with, acting for, deciding about, describing or depicting the victim, so none of the enumerated person relations applies and the relation is recorded as unknown. The tool is not identified; all four inspected reports carry the police account.", "status": "reported" }, "person_relations": [ "unknown" ] }, "name": "Cà Mau, Vietnam: a 25-year-old woman was prosecuted for using AI-made fake bank 'disbursement' messages to persuade an acquaintance to hand over more than 444 million đồng in 'loans' between September and November 2025", "summary": "On 19 September 2026 the investigation police of Cà Mau province announced that they had prosecuted, detained and searched the home of a 25-year-old woman from Phú Tân commune for fraud. According to the police account carried by Tuổi Trẻ, VnExpress, Phụ Nữ Việt Nam and Đọc Nhanh, from early September 2025, under debt pressure, she told a woman in the same locality that her bank loan, applied for through an insurance package, had been approved and asked to borrow money for travel and paperwork costs while awaiting disbursement. To build trust she used artificial-intelligence technology to fabricate bank disbursement-notification messages and showed them to the victim, promising to repay in full and to lend her money in turn. Trusting these, the victim handed over cash and made transfers many times between 9 September and 4 November 2025, totalling more than 444 million đồng. On 4 November 2025 she went to the bank branch herself and found there was no loan; she reported the matter to police. The accused is not named in this record.", "incidentDate": "2025-09-09", "incidentEndDate": "2025-11-04", "incidentKind": "bounded_series", "incidentDatePrecision": "range", "exposurePattern": "repeated_interactions", "reportedDate": "2026-09-19", "aiSystem": "Unspecified AI tool used to fabricate bank notification messages", "severity": "medium", "verificationStatus": "credible", "harmCategories": [], "harmOutcomes": [ "financial_loss" ], "harmOutcomeSummary": "One woman handed over more than 444 million đồng in cash and transfers between September and November 2025 after being shown AI-fabricated bank disbursement messages; police attribute the deception to the accused's use of AI-made messages.", "frameworkFacets": [], "causationStatus": "supported", "participantUsersAffectedMin": 0, "otherPeopleHarmedMin": 1, "affectedCountStatus": "exact", "affectedCountEvidence": "One victim ('bà L.') named by initials in the police account. Exact 1. The accused used the AI tool, so the victim is counted as another person harmed.", "victimAgeRange": "adult", "jurisdiction": "VN", "platformType": "other", "outcomeType": "criminal_charges", "outcomeStatus": "ongoing", "primarySourceUrl": "https://tuoitre.vn/co-gai-dung-ai-gia-tin-nhan-ngan-hang-lua-hon-444-trieu-dong-cua-nguoi-quen-100260919161334249.htm", "primarySourceLabel": "Tuổi Trẻ Online, 19 September 2026: Cô gái dùng AI giả tin nhắn ngân hàng, lừa hơn 444 triệu đồng của người quen", "firstPublishedAt": "2026-09-20T03:28:16.78778+00:00", "scopeVersion": "facts-v3", "tags": [ "ai-generated-documents", "bank-fraud", "fake-messages", "vietnam", "ca-mau", "financial-loss", "prosecution" ] }, { "id": "2025-lipps-facial-recognition-wrongful-jailing", "caseFacts": { "claims": [ { "id": "c1", "status": "corroborated", "evidence": [ { "locator": "Surveillance 'showed woman using a fake US army military ID to withdraw tens of thousands'; the 8-count charge list.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" }, { "locator": "Zibolski 'acknowledged that investigators made incorrect assumptions based on the West Fargo Police Department's Clearview AI facial recognition technology'.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s4" }, { "locator": "Warrant signed 2025-07-01 with nationwide extradition; the chief: the case 'was not solely based on just that one piece'; 'an AI function through the North Dakota State Intelligence Center'.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s2" } ], "assertion": "The case began with bank-fraud surveillance of a woman using a fake U.S. Army military ID to withdraw tens of thousands of dollars; an AI facial-recognition identification tied Lipps to that surveillance — recorded by Snopes as the West Fargo Police Department's Clearview AI technology, and by Fargo's chief as 'an AI function through the North Dakota State Intelligence Center... not anything that we own'; a nationwide-extradition warrant was signed on 1 July 2025.", "causal_attribution": "The vendor attribution differs between the chains (Clearview per Snopes' reading of the WFPD investigation; the state intelligence center's function per the chief) and is recorded with the discrepancy." }, { "id": "c2", "status": "corroborated", "evidence": [ { "locator": "'US marshals arrested Lipps at her Tennessee home while she was babysitting four children... taken away at gunpoint'; 'nearly four months without bail'; bank records 'more than 1,200 miles away in Tennessee'.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" }, { "locator": "PD timeline: TN waiver 10-20; booked Cass Co. 10-30; bank records presented 12-12; dismissal agreed 12-23; released 12-24.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s2" }, { "locator": "Dismissal 'without prejudice... Angela remains a person they are investigating'.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s3" } ], "assertion": "U.S. Marshals arrested her at gunpoint at her Tennessee home on 14 July 2025 while she babysat four children; she fought extradition for about three months in a Tennessee jail, was booked into Cass County on 30 October, and was released on 24 December after her bank records showed her more than 1,200 miles away in Tennessee; charges were dismissed without prejudice.", "causal_attribution": "The custody timeline is consistent across the Guardian, KVLY's police timeline and Snopes; the dismissal's without-prejudice character comes from KVLY's attorney piece." }, { "id": "c3", "status": "documented", "evidence": [ { "locator": "KVLY-obtained email 'showed six Fargo detectives were notified of Lipps' arrest in July — nearly five months before Fargo Police say they knew she was in custody'.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s3" } ], "assertion": "An email obtained by KVLY shows six Fargo detectives were notified of her arrest in July 2025 — nearly five months before the department says it learned she was in custody (5 December).", "causal_attribution": "KVLY's own document reporting; the department's stated knowledge date comes from its police timeline." }, { "id": "c4", "status": "corroborated", "evidence": [ { "locator": "The 'incorrect assumptions' concession (Snopes' reading of the 24 March presser).", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s4" }, { "locator": "The chief's 'not solely based on just that one piece' and the state-center tool description.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s2" }, { "locator": "Stefonowicz's April statement on an apology.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s3" } ], "assertion": "Fargo Police Chief Dave Zibolski acknowledged 'incorrect assumptions' linked to the AI identification while insisting the case 'was not solely based on just that one piece'; incoming Chief Stefonowicz said in April that if Ms. Lipps deserves an apology, 'I will absolutely be the first person to reach out'.", "causal_attribution": "The concession's exact wording beyond Snopes' paraphrase is unverified; both chiefs' positions are recorded as stated." }, { "id": "c5", "status": "corroborated", "evidence": [ { "locator": "'lost her home, her car and her dog.'", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" }, { "locator": "Rice: 'pursuing potential civil rights claims, though no lawsuit has been filed'.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s3" } ], "assertion": "She lost her home, her car and her dog; her attorney Eric Rice said he was pursuing potential civil-rights claims, with no lawsuit filed as of 31 March 2026.", "causal_attribution": "The losses are from the Guardian's account of her situation; the claim status is the attorney's statement as of 31 March 2026." }, { "id": "c6", "status": "reported", "evidence": [ { "locator": "'Angela Lipps, of Elizabethton, Tennessee, filed the federal lawsuit Tuesday in U.S. District Court in North Dakota against the City of Fargo and Fargo Police Department Detective Lucas Heck'; 'The complaint says Heck failed to disclose that the facial recognition result was actually based on a photo from the suspect's fake ID, not the surveillance footage'; 'The lawsuit brings five claims... Lipps is seeking $10 million in damages'; 'These are allegations contained in a civil complaint. No response has been filed as of this writing.'", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s5" } ], "assertion": "On 15 September 2026 Lipps filed a federal civil-rights lawsuit in the District of North Dakota against the City of Fargo and Detective Lucas Heck seeking $10 million, alleging that he relied on a flawed facial-recognition match based on the suspect's fake-ID photo, ignored exculpatory evidence and failed to disclose that such results are only investigative leads; the suit brings five claims and says the department had no facial-recognition policy or training at the time.", "causal_attribution": "The filing and its contents are reported by the same station chain (KVLY) that broke the case; the complaint itself was not inspected, so the claim is recorded as reported rather than documented. The InForum report of the same filing answered HTTP 403." } ], "effects": [ { "label": "five months wrongfully jailed on an AI facial-recognition identification, with lasting losses", "claim_id": "c2", "direction": "negative" } ], "sources": [ { "id": "s1", "url": "https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/12/tennessee-grandmother-ai-fraud", "kind": "news_report", "access": "read", "language": "en", "translation_note": "Read in English on 2026-09-15 (12 Mar 2026, Marina Dunbar).", "independence_group": "guardian" }, { "id": "s2", "url": "https://www.valleynewslive.com/2026/03/17/chief-zibolski-ai-was-lead-not-only-evidence-wrongful-jail-allegation/", "kind": "local_tv_news", "access": "read", "language": "en", "translation_note": "Read in English on 2026-09-15 (17 Mar 2026, Alix Larsen).", "independence_group": "kvly" }, { "id": "s3", "url": "https://www.valleynewslive.com/2026/04/01/attorney-discusses-potential-lawsuit-after-tennessee-grandmother-jailed-by-facial-recognition-error/", "kind": "local_tv_news", "access": "read", "language": "en", "translation_note": "Read in English on 2026-09-15 (31 Mar 2026, Ethan Kramer).", "independence_group": "kvly" }, { "id": "s4", "url": "https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/ai-tennessee-woman-jail/", "kind": "fact_check", "access": "read", "language": "en", "translation_note": "Read in English on 2026-09-15 (19 Jul 2026, updated 22 Jul; rating True). Aggregates the InForum/WDAY originals (blocked, 403); its Clearview attribution reflects that chain.", "independence_group": "snopes" }, { "id": "s5", "url": "https://www.valleynewslive.com/2026/09/15/tennessee-woman-sues-fargo-ex-detective-over-wrongful-arrest-tied-facial-recognition-error/", "kind": "local_tv_news", "access": "read", "language": "en", "translation_note": "Read in English on 2026-09-16 (datePublished 2026-09-15T17:39Z; Valley News Live, which first reported the case in March 2026).", "independence_group": "kvly" } ], "version": 1, "ai_roles": [ "institutional_use" ], "contexts": [ "justice" ], "unknowns": [ "The InForum original investigation (the first reporting chain) is blocked (403) and was not read; Snopes' and the Guardian's accounts of it are used instead.", "The exact wording of the 'incorrect assumptions' concession beyond Snopes' paraphrase is unverified.", "The vendor question — Clearview AI (per Snopes) versus the North Dakota State Intelligence Center's AI function (per the chief) — is unresolved.", "The woman in the bank-fraud surveillance (the actual suspect) is not reported as identified; the dismissal without prejudice leaves the investigation open.", "Her arrest's bail conditions and the custody conditions are not detailed in the inspected sources.", "The federal complaint (filed 15 September 2026) was not inspected and its case number is not given in the inspected report; the InForum account of the filing was blocked (403)." ], "geography": { "basis": "Event: arrest at her Tennessee home; jailing in Tennessee and Cass County, North Dakota; the underlying bank fraud in the Fargo/West Fargo area. Affected person: Lipps, Tennessee. Court: the Cass County charges (dismissed), North Dakota.", "court_countries": [ "US" ], "event_countries": [ "US" ], "affected_person_countries": [ "US" ] }, "publication": { "basis": "Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as an institutional automated-decision case (made_decision_about / made_claim_about): an AI facial-recognition identification set five months of wrongful custody in motion, documented by the Guardian, an independent local chain with its own document reporting (KVLY), and a fact-check carrying the blocked original chain. She is named in national coverage; the police chiefs' accounts are preserved as contrary context. Updated 16 September 2026 with the $10 million federal suit filed on 15 September, recorded from the Valley News Live report as a reported claim.", "reviewed_on": "2026-09-16" }, "ai_involvement": { "basis": "Snopes records the misidentification as based on the West Fargo PD's Clearview AI technology; Fargo's police chief separately describes 'an AI function through the North Dakota State Intelligence Center' and concedes 'incorrect assumptions' while insisting the case was not solely based on that one piece. The vendor attribution (Clearview vs the state center's function) is recorded with the discrepancy.", "status": "supported" }, "person_relations": [ "made_decision_about", "made_claim_about" ] }, "name": "Tennessee grandmother Angela Lipps jailed five months on an AI facial-recognition misidentification; charges dismissed after bank records placed her 1,200 miles away", "summary": "On 14 July 2025, U.S. Marshals arrested Angela Lipps, a 50-year-old Tennessee grandmother, at gunpoint at her home while she was babysitting four children, on a nationwide-extradition North Dakota warrant: West Fargo police's AI facial-recognition technology had tied her to bank-fraud surveillance of a woman using a fake U.S. Army military ID to withdraw tens of thousands of dollars. She fought extradition for about three months in a Tennessee jail, was booked into Cass County, North Dakota on 30 October 2025 on four counts of unauthorized use of personal identifying information and four counts of theft, and was released on 24 December after her bank records showed her more than 1,200 miles away in Tennessee; charges were dismissed without prejudice. Fargo's police chief acknowledged 'incorrect assumptions' linked to the AI identification; an email obtained by KVLY shows six Fargo detectives were notified of her arrest in July, nearly five months before the department says it knew she was in custody. She lost her home, her car and her dog; her attorneys are pursuing potential civil-rights claims, with no lawsuit filed as of 31 March 2026. On 15 September 2026 she filed a $10 million federal civil-rights suit in the District of North Dakota against the City of Fargo and the detective, alleging he relied on a flawed facial-recognition match and ignored exculpatory evidence.", "incidentDate": "2025-07-14", "incidentEndDate": "2025-12-24", "incidentKind": "bounded_series", "incidentDatePrecision": "range", "exposurePattern": "single_interaction", "reportedDate": "2026-03-12", "aiSystem": "Clearview AI facial recognition (per Snopes' account of the West Fargo PD investigation); described by Fargo's chief as 'an AI function through the North Dakota State Intelligence Center'", "aiCompany": "Clearview AI (vendor per Snopes); North Dakota State Intelligence Center (per Fargo police chief)", "severity": "high", "verificationStatus": "credible", "harmCategories": [], "harmOutcomes": [ "legal_harm", "loss_of_autonomy", "reputational_harm", "property_loss", "psychological_distress" ], "harmOutcomeSummary": "Five months jailed on an AI-driven misidentification — arrested at gunpoint while babysitting, held states away from home — ending only when her bank records proved she was 1,200 miles away; she lost her home, car and dog, and the dismissal without prejudice leaves her 'a person they are investigating'.", "frameworkFacets": [], "causationStatus": "supported", "participantUsersAffectedMin": 0, "otherPeopleHarmedMin": 1, "affectedCountStatus": "exact", "affectedCountEvidence": "One documented harmed person: Lipps, the misidentified defendant (three chains; her attorneys' account). The children she was babysitting are recorded in the narrative but not counted as harmed persons (no harm to them is reported).", "victimAgeRange": "adult", "jurisdiction": "US", "platformType": "other", "outcomeType": "lawsuit_filed", "outcomeStatus": "ongoing", "primarySourceUrl": "https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/12/tennessee-grandmother-ai-fraud", "primarySourceLabel": "The Guardian (12 Mar 2026, Marina Dunbar) — the arrest, the custody ordeal, the losses", "firstPublishedAt": "2026-09-15T10:28:13.154947+00:00", "scopeVersion": "facts-v3", "tags": [ "civil-rights", "clearview", "facial-recognition", "justice", "lawsuit", "made-claim-about", "made-decision-about", "north-dakota", "tennessee", "wrongful-arrest" ] } ] }