{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-09-30T07:25:42.885Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"extortion","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"","evidence":"","year":"2026","response":"regulatory","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":2,"coverage":{"cases":2,"countries":1,"languages":2,"unknownLocation":0,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":0,"lawsuits":0,"regulatory":2,"minors":0,"coreRelations":2,"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":"2026-bengaluru-hebbal-head-constable-ai-morphed-images-sextortion","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'he received a friend request from a Facebook account'; 'on Sept 16'; 'claimed that the person behind the account downloaded his old photographs from Facebook and used them to create morphed obscene images and videos showing him with women, using AI tools'; 'the accused then sent the morphed images and videos to him along with a QR code, demanding money and promising to delete the material if he paid'; 'threatened to send the morphed images and videos to senior police officials and upload them on social media if he failed to comply, warning that the move would damage his reputation'; 'The harassment continued till Sept 18'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"According to his complaint, after the head constable accepted a Facebook friend request on 16 September 2026, the account holder used AI tools to make morphed obscene images and videos of him from his old Facebook photographs, sent them to him with a QR code demanding money, and threatened to send them to senior police officials and post them on social media; the harassment continued until 18 September.","causal_attribution":"The complainant's account as reported by TOI; the AI attribution is his claim and is not examined in the report."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Hebbal police have registered a case under Sections 66E'; 'Police have taken measures to ensure that those images and videos are not uploaded on social media and are making efforts to nab the fraudster'; 'He also submitted copies of the messages and morphed photographs along with his complaint, a senior officer said'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Hebbal police registered a case under IT Act sections 66E and 67A and BNS sections 308 and 351, took measures to keep the images and videos from being uploaded, and are trying to trace the account holder; the complainant gave police copies of the messages and morphed photographs.","causal_attribution":"Police account as reported by TOI; the FIR was not read."}],"effects":[{"label":"sent AI-made obscene images and videos of himself with demands for money and threats to send them to his superiors and post them online","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/facebook-friend-request-turns-into-sextortion-trap-for-bengaluru-cop/articleshow/134522823.cms","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read live in English on 2026-09-28 (Times of India, Bengaluru, byline H M Chaithanya Swamy, published 27 September 2026 21:29 IST, modified 28 September). Based on the complaint and a senior officer's statements. The420.in's derivative article returned 403 and was not read.","independence_group":"toi-bengaluru-hebbal-complaint"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["privacy","work","everyday_life"],"unknowns":["Whether the complainant paid any money.","Whether any of the material was sent to others or published.","Which AI tools were used and whether police have verified that the images were AI-made.","Who operated the account and from where; no arrest is reported."],"geography":{"basis":"The complainant is a head constable at Hebbal police station in Bengaluru, was on duty in the Hebbal area when contacted and complained to Hebbal police (Times of India). The account holder's location is unknown. No court proceeding is reported.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["IN"],"affected_person_countries":["IN"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as a core case: according to the complainant, AI tools were used to depict him in fabricated obscene images and videos that were then used for extortion, and police registered an extortion and IT Act case. Single reporting chain (the Times of India, from the complaint and a senior officer). The complainant is not named.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-28"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The complainant says the account holder used AI tools to make morphed obscene images and videos from his old Facebook photographs; he gave police copies of the images. The Times of India reports this as his claim. The tool is not named and no police or forensic finding on how the material was made is reported.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["depicted_or_impersonated"]},"name":"Bengaluru: a Hebbal police head constable says a stranger who contacted him through a Facebook friend request used AI tools to turn his old Facebook photographs into obscene images and videos, then demanded money and threatened to send them to his superiors and post them online; police register an extortion and IT Act case (16-18 September 2026)","summary":"A head constable at Hebbal police station in Bengaluru complained that on 16 September 2026 he accepted a Facebook friend request from an unknown account and exchanged sexually explicit messages with it over Messenger. According to his complaint, reported by the Times of India, the person behind the account downloaded his old Facebook photographs and used AI tools to make morphed obscene images and videos showing him with women, sent them to him with a QR code, demanded money in return for deleting them and threatened to send them to senior police officers and post them on social media, warning that this would damage his reputation. The harassment continued until 18 September. He gave police copies of the messages and the morphed images. Hebbal police registered a case under IT Act sections 66E and 67A and Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 308 (extortion) and 351 (criminal intimidation), took steps to stop the material being uploaded and are trying to trace the account holder. Whether he paid is not reported, and no arrest is reported.","incidentDate":"2026-09-16","incidentEndDate":"2026-09-18","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"range","exposurePattern":"repeated_interactions","reportedDate":"2026-09-27","aiSystem":"Unidentified AI tools the complainant says were used to make morphed obscene images and videos from his Facebook photographs (Times of India)","aiProduct":"Unidentified image and video tool","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["exploitation_or_abuse"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"The complainant says fabricated obscene images and videos of him, made with AI tools from his Facebook photographs, were sent to him with extortion demands and threats to send them to his superiors and post them online over three days (his complaint as reported by the Times of India).","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person, the head constable depicted in the morphed images and targeted by the extortion demands (Times of India). The women shown with him in the fabricated images are not counted: they are not identified and no harm to them is reported. Exact 1.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"IN-KA","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"investigation_opened","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/facebook-friend-request-turns-into-sextortion-trap-for-bengaluru-cop/articleshow/134522823.cms","primarySourceLabel":"Times of India (Bengaluru), 27 September 2026: Facebook friend request turns into sextortion trap for Bengaluru cop","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-28T03:31:35.359469+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:17:27.418114+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["deepfake","sextortion","non-consensual-imagery","extortion","facebook","messenger","police-officer-victim","india","karnataka","bengaluru","hebbal","depicted-or-impersonated"]},{"id":"2026-indore-ai-photos-blackmail","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'बाणगंगा थाना क्षेत्र में एक छात्रा ने युवक पर आरोप लगाया है कि उसने उसकी पुरानी तस्वीरों को एआई की मदद से आपत्तिजनक तरीके से एडिट किया।'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'एक निजी कॉलेज की प्रथम वर्ष की छात्रा ने अपने ही एक परिचित युवक पर गंभीर आरोप लगाए हैं।'; 'उस समय शादी के माहौल में दोनों के बीच सामान्य जान-पहचान हुई और इसी दौरान आरोपी ने छात्रा की कुछ तस्वीरें भी खींच ली थीं।'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'इनकार करने पर आरोपी ने शादी में साथ खीचें फोटो को एआइ की मदद से अश्लील बनाकर सोशल मीडिया पर वायरल करने की धमकी देना शुरू कर दी।'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"A first-year student at a private college in Indore complained that a young man she met at her sister's wedding in 2024, who took some of her photographs there, later pressed her to marry him and, when she refused, threatened to edit her photographs with AI into objectionable (Navbharat Times, Amar Ujala) or obscene (Patrika) images and post them online, and blackmailed her.","causal_attribution":"Complainant's account as relayed by the Banganga police (one chain)."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'आरोपी छात्रा के मंगेतर तक पहुंच गया और उसे एडिट की गई तस्वीरें दिखाईं। तस्वीरें देखने के बाद दोनों परिवारों में विवाद की स्थिति बन गई और आखिरकार सगाई टूट गई।'; 'इस घटना के बाद छात्रा गहरे मानसिक तनाव में चली गई।'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'पीड़िता ने पुलिस को बताया कि दो माह पूर्व परिवार ने उनकी शादी एक युवक से तय कर दी।'; 'उसने मंगेतर को डरा धमकाकर शादी तुड़वाई।'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'जब पीड़िता के परिवार ने उसकी शादी कहीं और तय करने की कोशिश की, तो आरोपी ने वहां भी बाधा डाली।'; 'लगभग दो महीने पहले जब युवती की सगाई हुई, तो आरोपी सीधे उसके घर पहुंच गया और होने वाले मंगेतर के सामने युवती के चरित्र पर झूठे आरोप लगाए, जिसके परिणामस्वरूप छात्रा की सगाई टूट गई।'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"After her family arranged her engagement elsewhere, the accused intervened and the engagement was broken off: Navbharat Times says he reached her fiancé and showed him the edited pictures; Patrika says he went to the fiancé's home and intimidated him; Amar Ujala says he came to her house at the engagement about two months earlier and made false allegations about her character in front of the prospective fiancé. The student went into severe mental distress.","causal_attribution":"Complainant's account as relayed by police; the three descriptions of how the fiancé was approached are all recorded."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'इस मानसिक प्रताड़ना और सामाजिक अपमान से तंग आकर छात्रा ने आत्महत्या जैसा आत्मघाती कदम उठाने का मन बना लिया था।'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'एडिशनल डीसीपी अमरेंद्र सिंह के मुताबिक छात्रा की शिकायत के आधार पर एफआईआर दर्ज कर ली गई है।'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'अब पुलिस फरार आरोपी की तलाश में जुटी है।'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"Worn down by the harassment and social humiliation, she had resolved to take a suicidal step before confiding in her family, who took her to senior police officers; an FIR was registered at Banganga police station under the IT Act and sections on threats and defamation, and police were searching for the accused.","causal_attribution":"Amar Ujala's account of the suicidal intention and Navbharat Times' police quotation; no attempt is described."}],"effects":[{"label":"a college student was blackmailed with AI-edited images of herself; her engagement was broken off after the accused approached her fiancé, leaving her in severe distress","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://navbharattimes.indiatimes.com/state/madhya-pradesh/indore/young-woman-photo-shown-to-her-fianc-engagement-broken-after-youth-in-indore-misuses-ai/articleshow/131043889.cms","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"hi","translation_note":"Read live on 2026-09-25 (Navbharat Times, Indore, 12 May 2026; html lang=hi). Hindi; passages quoted in the original and paraphrased in English by the reviewer. Quotes Additional DCP Amrendra Singh.","independence_group":"indore-banganga-complaint-may-2026"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.amarujala.com/madhya-pradesh/indore/indore-news-college-student-blackmailed-with-ai-edited-photos-2026-05-12","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"hi","translation_note":"Read live on 2026-09-25 (Amar Ujala, Indore, 12 May 2026; html lang=hi). Hindi; same complaint as relayed by police; adds the threats to kill and the suicidal intention.","independence_group":"indore-banganga-complaint-may-2026"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.patrika.com/indore-news/student-s-obscene-ai-generated-video-used-to-intimidate-fiance-s-family-and-force-cancellation-of-wedding-20575699","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"hi","translation_note":"Read live on 2026-09-25 (Patrika, Indore, 13 May 2026; html lang=hi). Hindi; same complaint; describes the visit to the fiancé's home.","independence_group":"indore-banganga-complaint-may-2026"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["relationships","privacy","education"],"unknowns":["Whether the accused has been arrested or charged since May 2026.","Whether the edited images or a video were actually published anywhere; the reports describe threats and the showing of pictures to the fiancé and family.","The tool used and whether police examined the images.","When the blackmail began is not established (after the 2024 wedding). The engagement was fixed and broken about two months before the 12-13 May 2026 reports (Amar Ujala 'लगभग दो महीने पहले'; Patrika 'दो माह पूर्व'), so the incident month is recorded as March 2026, approximately; the complaint month is a reporting date and is not used as the event date.","The complainant's age (a first-year college student; recorded as adult on that basis without a stated age)."],"geography":{"basis":"Complaint at Banganga police station, Indore, Madhya Pradesh; the complainant studies at a college in Indore and the accused is from a locality of Indore (Navbharat Times, Amar Ujala). No court proceeding is reported.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["IN"],"affected_person_countries":["IN"]},"publication":{"basis":"Restored under the 2026-09-15 charter as an image-based blackmail case with one identified (unnamed) depicted person, an FIR and a reported broken engagement and severe distress, based on three Hindi reports relaying the complainant's account through the Indore police (one chain); claims recorded as reported. The original ID and first-publication timestamp are preserved; the historical row's statement of a suicide attempt is corrected to a reported suicidal intention. The accused is not named in the public text.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-25"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The complainant, as relayed by the Banganga police to three Hindi outlets, alleges that the accused edited her photographs with AI into an objectionable form and threatened to make them and a video viral; Navbharat Times says the edited pictures were shown to her fiancé. No tool is identified and the images were not examined by the reports.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["depicted_or_impersonated"]},"name":"Indore: a first-year college student complained in May 2026 that a man she met at her sister's wedding edited her photographs with AI into objectionable images after she refused to marry him, blackmailed her with them and, after approaching her fiancé (the reports differ on how), caused her engagement to be broken off; she had been contemplating suicide before confiding in her family (Navbharat Times, Amar Ujala, Patrika, 12-13 May 2026)","summary":"Indore police registered an FIR at Banganga police station on a first-year college student's complaint reported on 12 and 13 May 2026. She said she had met the accused, a young man from the Indore area, at her sister's wedding in 2024, where he took some photographs of her; he later pressed her to marry him and, when she refused, threatened to edit her photographs with AI into objectionable (Navbharat Times, Amar Ujala) or obscene (Patrika) images and post them online. Navbharat Times reports that he edited the pictures with AI, blackmailed her with them and, after her family arranged her engagement elsewhere, reached her fiancé and showed him the edited pictures, after which the families quarrelled and the engagement was broken; Patrika says he went to the fiancé's home and intimidated him into breaking the match; Amar Ujala says he also threatened to kill her and her family and sent edited pictures when her family tried to reason with him, and that when her engagement took place about two months earlier he went to her house and made false allegations about her character in front of the prospective fiancé, after which the engagement broke. She went into severe mental distress and, according to Amar Ujala, had resolved to take a suicidal step before telling her family, who took her to the police. The FIR was registered under the IT Act and sections on criminal intimidation and defamation; police were searching for the accused.","incidentDate":"2026-03-01","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2026-05-12","aiSystem":"AI image-editing tool used to alter the complainant's photographs into obscene images (not identified in the reports); Patrika also refers to an AI-made obscene video","aiProduct":"Unidentified image and video tool","severity":"high","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["exploitation_or_abuse","relationship_disruption","psychological_distress"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"A college student's photographs were edited with AI into objectionable images used to blackmail her; the accused approached her fiancé (shown the edited images per Navbharat Times; intimidated in person per Patrika and Amar Ujala) and her engagement was broken off; she suffered severe mental distress and, according to Amar Ujala, had resolved on a suicidal step before confiding in her family (her complaint as relayed by police to three Hindi outlets). The AI editing and the coercion are the complainant's allegations in an untried case.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One complainant, the college student whose photographs were edited and who was blackmailed (all three reports). Her fiancé and family are not counted as harmed.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"IN","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"investigation_opened","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://navbharattimes.indiatimes.com/state/madhya-pradesh/indore/young-woman-photo-shown-to-her-fianc-engagement-broken-after-youth-in-indore-misuses-ai/articleshow/131043889.cms","primarySourceLabel":"Navbharat Times, 12 May 2026: युवती की फोटो उसके मंगेतर दिखाई, जिसके बाद टूटी सगाई; इंदौर में युवक ने AI का किया गलत इस्तेमाल","firstPublishedAt":"2026-06-15T07:32:37.615682+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:17:40.5921+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["deepfake","sextortion","blackmail","non-consensual-imagery","engagement","india","indore","madhya-pradesh","fir","depicted-or-impersonated"]}]}