{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-10-31T09:02:48.090Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"cambodia-scam-centre","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"core","evidence":"","year":"2024","response":"","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":1,"coverage":{"cases":1,"countries":2,"languages":1,"unknownLocation":0,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":0,"lawsuits":0,"regulatory":0,"minors":0,"coreRelations":1,"contextualRelations":0,"mixedRelations":0,"unknownRelations":0,"relationPending":0,"relationUnknown":0},"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":"AI incidents","publisher":"NOPE","url":"https://nope.net/incidents","license":"CC BY 4.0"},"incidents":[{"id":"2024-ulsan-court-jails-couple-who-ran-cambodia-romance-investment-fraud-with-deepfake-investment-expert-videos","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"두 사람은 2024년 1월부터 1년간 캄보디아 보레이 지역 등지에 보이스피싱을 목적으로 하는 범죄단체를 조직한 뒤 딥페이크 기술을 악용해 ‘로맨스 스캠’ 방식의 투자 리딩 사기 범행을 저지른 혐의를 받는다.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"이들 부부는 2024년 1월부터 지난해 1월까지 캄보디아 보레이 지역 등에서 전화금융사기(보이스피싱) 범죄 단체를 조직하고 '딥페이크'를 활용해 한국인을 대상으로 로맨스 스캠 방식으로 투자를 유도한 혐의로 구속 기소됐다.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Prosecutors charged that from January 2024 to January 2025 the couple organised and ran phone-fraud groups in Cambodia that used romance-scam methods and deepfakes to draw Koreans into investments.","causal_attribution":"The charges as stated in the indictment; s2 restates them in its sentencing report. One prosecutorial origin."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"딥페이크 기술로 유튜브 영상을 촬영해 마치 투자전문가인 것처럼 행세하며 피해자들을 상대로 투자금을 유도했다.; 피해자를 상대로 사적인 대화를 하며 친분을 쌓은 뒤 투자금을 받아냈다.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"According to the prosecutors' investigation, the husband used deepfake technology to film YouTube videos in which he posed as an investment expert to draw investments from victims, while the wife befriended victims in private conversations before taking their money.","causal_attribution":"The deepfake step is the prosecutors' finding as reported from the Ministry of Justice announcement; the technical basis is not disclosed. Single outlet."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"이러한 범행으로 국내 피해자 97명으로부터 약 101억원을 가로챘다.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"딥페이크 기술로 만든 가상인물을 앞세워 한국인 100여명한테 약 101억원을 가로챈 혐의를 받고 있다.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"The prosecutors count 97 victims in South Korea and about 10.1 billion won taken; reports of the judgment put the victims at about 100.","causal_attribution":"Counts from the indictment and the court reporting; the split between the two figures is recorded rather than resolved."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"두 사람 모두 지난 4월 열린 첫 재판에서 혐의를 인정했으나; 울산지법 형사12부(박강민 부장판사)는 24일 범죄단체조직 등 혐의로 재판에 넘겨진 30대 남편 A씨에게 징역 15년과 추징금 1억4천여만원, 아내 B씨에게는 징역 9년과 추징금 6천800만원을 선고했다.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"피해자들이 신청한 배상명령은 각하됐다.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"Both defendants admitted the charges at the first hearing in April 2026, and on 24 July 2026 the Ulsan District Court sentenced the husband to 15 years and the wife to 9 years in prison, with forfeiture orders; the victims' compensation-order applications were dismissed.","causal_attribution":"Two reporters' accounts of the same judgment; one court origin, so reported."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"피해자들이 극심한 피해를 호소하고 있고 엄벌을 탄원하고 있는 반면, 피고인들은 피해 회복을 위해 아무런 노력을 하지 않고 있다","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"피해자들은 극심한 피해를 호소하며 엄벌을 탄원하고 있지만, 피해 회복을 위해 아무런 노력도 하지 않고 있다","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"The court said the victims described severe harm and asked for strict punishment while the defendants had made no effort to compensate them.","causal_attribution":"The court's sentencing reasons as quoted by two outlets; one origin."},{"id":"c6","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"공소청은 22일 부산고법 울산재판부 울산제1형사부(유정우 부장판사) 심리로 열린 A씨 항소심 공판에서 징역 17년을 선고해달라고 재판부에 요청했다.; 이후 A씨는 항소했다가 이를 취하했으며, 검사는 양형부당을 이유로 항소했다.; B씨에 대한 항소심 심리가 마무리되면 A씨와 함께 선고가 이뤄진다.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"Prosecutors appealed on sentencing grounds, and at the appeal hearing on 22 October 2026 asked for 17 years for the husband, who had withdrawn his own appeal; judgment will follow the wife's appeal hearing.","causal_attribution":"Single outlet's report of the appeal hearing."}],"effects":[{"label":"about 10.1 billion won lost to romance-and-investment scams that used deepfake videos of a fictitious investment expert","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.hani.co.kr/arti/society/society_general/1245018.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"ko","translation_note":"Read in Korean on 2026-10-31; translated by the research agent (an AI). The Hankyoreh, 13 February 2026, reporting the Ministry of Justice announcement of the indictment; HTTP 200.","independence_group":"korea-prosecutors-indictment-feb-2026"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20260724066400057","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"ko","translation_note":"Read in Korean on 2026-10-31; translated by the research agent (an AI). Yonhap News (Ulsan), 24 July 2026, report of the first-instance judgment; HTTP 200.","independence_group":"ulsan-district-court-judgment-jul-2026"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.hani.co.kr/arti/area/yeongnam/1269790.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"ko","translation_note":"Read in Korean on 2026-10-31; translated by the research agent (an AI). The Hankyoreh (Yeongnam), 24 July 2026, report of the same judgment; HTTP 200. Same court origin as s2.","independence_group":"ulsan-district-court-judgment-jul-2026"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://www.iusm.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=1069518","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"ko","translation_note":"Read in Korean on 2026-10-31; translated by the research agent (an AI). Ulsan Maeil, 23 October 2026, report of the 22 October appeal hearing; HTTP 200.","independence_group":"ulsan-appeal-hearing-oct-2026"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["finance","relationships","justice"],"unknowns":["How many of the victims saw the deepfake videos and which deepfake tool was used","How the prosecutors established that the videos were deepfakes","The outcome of the prosecutors' appeal and of the wife's appeal","Whether any of the losses have been recovered"],"geography":{"basis":"Event: the prosecutors say the fraud groups operated from the Borei area of Cambodia (s1, s2) and targeted Koreans, with victims counted as domestic victims in South Korea (s1); affected people: the indictment counts them as domestic (국내) victims (s1). Court: Ulsan District Court and the appeal bench in Ulsan (s2, s4).","court_countries":["KR"],"event_countries":["KH","KR"],"affected_person_countries":["KR"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a reported criminal case: prosecutors say the husband used deepfake technology to make videos of himself posing as an investment expert in a romance-and-investment fraud that took about 10.1 billion won from 97 victims, both defendants admitted the charges, and the Ulsan District Court imposed prison sentences; an appeal is pending.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-31"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"Prosecutors, who investigated and indicted the couple, say the husband used deepfake technology to film YouTube videos in which he posed as an investment expert in order to draw investments from victims (s1); the charges of using deepfakes in the romance-investment scheme were admitted by both defendants and led to conviction (s2), and reports of the judgment describe a virtual person made with deepfake technology fronting the scheme (s3). The deepfake videos are the medium through which victims received the fake expert's investment pitch. The technical basis for the deepfake finding is not disclosed, and how many victims saw the videos is not reported.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Ulsan court jails Korean couple who ran a Cambodia-based romance and investment fraud using deepfake videos of a fake investment expert","summary":"South Korean prosecutors indicted a married couple in February 2026 on charges that, from January 2024 to January 2025, they ran phone-fraud groups in Cambodia that targeted Koreans with romance-and-investment scams; according to the prosecutors, the husband used deepfake technology to make YouTube videos in which he posed as an investment expert, while the wife built relationships with victims in private chats, and 97 victims lost about 10.1 billion won. Both admitted the charges, and on 24 July 2026 the Ulsan District Court sentenced the husband to 15 years and the wife to 9 years in prison, noting that the victims described severe harm while the defendants had made no effort to compensate them. Prosecutors appealed; at the appeal hearing on 22 October 2026 they asked for 17 years for the husband, and a joint appeal judgment is pending.","incidentDate":"2024-01-01","incidentEndDate":"2025-01-01","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2026-02-13","aiSystem":"Deepfake technology used to make YouTube videos of a fictitious investment expert played by one defendant, as described by prosecutors (tool not named)","aiProduct":"Unidentified video tool","severity":"high","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["financial_loss"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"According to the prosecutors, 97 victims in South Korea lost about 10.1 billion won to romance-and-investment scams in which deepfake videos presented a fictitious investment expert; the court said the victims described severe harm and had received no compensation.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":97,"affectedCountStatus":"documented_minimum","affectedCountEvidence":"The prosecutors' indictment, as reported by The Hankyoreh, counts 97 domestic victims ('국내 피해자 97명'); reports of the judgment say about 100 ('100여명'). 97 is recorded as a documented minimum because the reports give no breakdown of how many victims saw the deepfake videos and the sentencing reports round upward.","victimAgeRange":"unknown","jurisdiction":"KR","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"criminal_charges","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.hani.co.kr/arti/society/society_general/1245018.html","primarySourceLabel":"The Hankyoreh, 13 February 2026: Couple behind 10.1 billion won romance scam indicted after evading investigators by changing their faces","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-31T03:13:00.990788+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-31T03:13:00.990788+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["deepfake-video","romance-scam","investment-fraud","cambodia-scam-centre","criminal-conviction","appeal-pending","south-korea"]}]}