{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-10-11T08:26:41.298Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"fake-kidnapping","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"core","evidence":"","year":"","response":"","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":2,"coverage":{"cases":2,"countries":2,"languages":1,"unknownLocation":0,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":0,"lawsuits":0,"regulatory":1,"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-indore-parents-paid-rs-1-02-lakh-after-video-call-showing-missing-son-threatened-police-suspect-deepfake","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'they received a video call from unknown persons claiming he was in their custody'; 'The accused sent a QR code and asked for payment. Due to fear, the family transferred Rs1.02 lakh'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'On February 3, the parents received a video call from an unknown number. Their son appeared on screen, seemingly being stabbed by the caller, who threatened to kill him unless Rs 1,02,000 was transferred.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"While searching for their missing 16-year-old son, the parents received a video call from unknown persons that showed a boy appearing to be threatened, with a demand for about Rs 1 lakh via a QR code, and they transferred Rs 1.02 lakh.","causal_attribution":"The account of the call and the payment has one underlying origin, the family: the mother quoted by Bhaskar, the Additional DCP relaying the family's complaint, and an unattributed News18 narrative. News18 reports a police-traced payment trail, which does not establish what the video showed."},{"id":"c2","status":"disputed","evidence":[{"locator":"'On February 4, the boy was traced safely in Dewas after he contacted a friend.'; 'The minor has stated that he had no knowledge of any such video call.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'The case took a dramatic turn the next day when the boy returned home on his own. He allegedly told his family that he had gone to a local temple for darshan and was never abducted.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'The next day, their son returned home safely, explaining that he had visited a temple without informing his parents.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"The boy was found safe within two days; Bhaskar reports he was traced in Dewas on 4 February and said he had no knowledge of any video call, while The Indian Express and News18 say he returned home the next day after visiting a temple.","causal_attribution":"The reports agree he was safe and not abducted but disagree on where he was found."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Police have strong reasons to believe that deepfake technology was used to create the extortion video.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'Additional DCP Rajesh Dandotiya stated that early findings indicate the misuse of artificial intelligence.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'Dandotia said the possibility of AI-generated or manipulated video is also being examined.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Indore police say they have strong reasons to believe deepfake technology was used to make the video and that early findings indicate the misuse of AI; Bhaskar quotes the same officer saying the possibility of an AI-generated or manipulated video is being examined.","causal_attribution":"One officer's statements relayed by three outlets; the characterisation ranges from a possibility under examination to strong reasons to believe, and no forensic finding is reported."}],"effects":[{"label":"parents paid Rs 1.02 lakh in fear after a video call appeared to show their missing son threatened, a video police suspect was a deepfake","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://indianexpress.com/article/india/indore-family-duped-deepfake-kidnapping-video-call-scam-10553350/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-11; no translation needed. The Indian Express, 26 February 2026; live page 403, read from an Internet Archive capture (HTTP 200). Quotes the Additional DCP.","independence_group":"indian-express-mp-bureau"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.bhaskarenglish.in/local/mp/news/indore-kidnap-scam-teen-resurfaces-rs-102-lakh-paid-137295244.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-11; no translation needed. Bhaskar English, 25 February 2026, HTTP 200. Quotes the mother and the Additional DCP.","independence_group":"bhaskar-indore"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.news18.com/cities/indore/indore-couple-receive-video-call-showing-son-soaked-in-blood-lose-rs-1-lakh-in-deepfake-scam-ws-el-9940171.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-11; no translation needed. News18, 3 March 2026; live page 403, read from an Internet Archive capture (HTTP 200). Quotes the Additional DCP and gives the call date and interstate trail.","independence_group":"news18-indore"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["finance","everyday_life"],"unknowns":["Whether the video was AI-generated or another kind of manipulated or staged footage; no forensic finding is reported.","Who made the call and the video, and whether anyone has been arrested.","Where the boy was found: Dewas after contacting a friend (Bhaskar) or at home after visiting a temple (Indian Express, News18)."],"geography":{"basis":"The family lives in Indore, where the complaint was filed and the call received; News18 reports the SIM, bank account and withdrawal were in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. All in India. No court proceeding is reported.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["IN"],"affected_person_countries":["IN"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a core depiction case on three reports quoting the family and Indore police: parents of a missing 16-year-old paid Rs 1.02 lakh after a video call appeared to show him threatened, he was found safe and unaware of any call, and the Additional DCP says police have strong reasons to believe deepfake technology was used. The AI involvement is suspected because no forensic finding is reported; the family is not named.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-11"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"Additional DCP (Crime) Rajesh Dandotia said the family was convinced because they saw what looked like their own child, that police have strong reasons to believe deepfake technology was used to create the extortion video (Indian Express) and that early findings indicate the misuse of artificial intelligence (News18, which adds that the scammers likely altered a face and expressions); Bhaskar quotes him saying the possibility of an AI-generated or manipulated video is being examined. The suspected AI output is a video depicting the missing boy under threat, shown to his parents (depicted_or_impersonated), and the reports connect that video to their payment. The boy said he knew nothing of the call. No forensic finding is reported, so the status is suspected.","status":"suspected"},"person_relations":["depicted_or_impersonated"]},"name":"Indore parents paid Rs 1.02 lakh after a video call appeared to show their missing son threatened; police suspect a deepfake video, and he returned safe","summary":"In February 2026 a 16-year-old boy in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, did not return home from a coaching class, and his family filed a missing-person complaint. While they searched, they received a video call from unknown people who claimed to be holding him; the call showed a boy appearing to be threatened with a knife and the callers demanded about Rs 1 lakh through a QR code. In fear, the parents transferred Rs 1.02 lakh. The boy was found safe within two days and said he knew nothing of any video call. Additional DCP (Crime) Rajesh Dandotia told reporters that the family was convinced because they saw what looked like their own child, that police have strong reasons to believe deepfake technology was used, and that the crime branch is investigating; The Indian Express reports that police believe it is the city's first known case of deepfake technology used for extortion. Accounts differ on where the boy had been. The AI involvement is recorded as suspected because no forensic finding is reported.","incidentDate":"2026-02-02","incidentEndDate":"2026-02-04","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"range","exposurePattern":"single_interaction","reportedDate":"2026-02-25","aiSystem":"A video shown in a live video call that appeared to show the family's missing son under threat; Indore police say early findings indicate the misuse of AI, and News18 adds that deepfake technology was likely used to alter a face and expressions. No tool is named","aiProduct":"Unidentified video tool (suspected)","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["financial_loss","psychological_distress"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"According to police and the family as reported by three outlets, the parents of a missing 16-year-old paid Rs 1.02 lakh after a video call that appeared to show him threatened with a knife; the mother described the family as terrified. Police suspect the video was a deepfake.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":2,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"Two people: the boy's parents, described as \"a couple\" and \"the parents\" who sent the money (News18). They did not use the tool, so they are counted as other people harmed. The depicted boy is not reported harmed and is not counted.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"IN","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"investigation_opened","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://indianexpress.com/article/india/indore-family-duped-deepfake-kidnapping-video-call-scam-10553350/","primarySourceLabel":"The Indian Express, 26 February 2026: Indore family duped of Rs 1 lakh in deepfake kidnapping video call scam","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-11T03:16:20.72728+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-11T03:16:20.72728+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["deepfake","fake-kidnapping","video-call","extortion","financial-loss","parents","minor-depicted","police","india","indore","depicted-or-impersonated"]},{"id":"2026-washington-man-reports-wiring-13000-in-30-hour-fake-kidnapping-call-with-reported-ai-copy-of-daughters-voice","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"voice wasn’t that of his daughter. It was a fake, an AI-generated copy.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"The perpetrators, investigators later surmised, used a recording of the daughter’s voice and a program that so accurately mimicked her speech pattern","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"I could not tell it wasn’t her.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"an AI-generated voice has mimicked a person’s voice and they weren’t able to tell the difference","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"But the voice wasn't that of his daughter. It was a fake, an AI-generated copy.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The newspaper states that the daughter's voice on the call was an AI-generated copy and reports that investigators later surmised the callers used a recording of the daughter's voice and a program that mimicked the speech pattern. The man said the voice sounded to the man like the daughter's, and a bank employee described an AI-generated voice that the man could not tell from the daughter's.","causal_attribution":"The newspaper's statement rests on unnamed investigators' surmise, the man's account and a bank employee's remark. No forensic voice analysis is reported, and the newspaper does not quote the daughter directly."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Monday, March 23.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"A male voice then got on the phone, said he was a medic","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"he had taken my daughter as a hostage and he was deciding what to do with her","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"he first needed to transfer money to cover the thousands lost in the drug transaction that his daughter had interrupted","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"maintain the telephone call, which prevented him from calling for help","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Dad, I got in an accident and I’m in trouble. I need help.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"If I lose you, I’m going to take it out on your daughter.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"as early as 2023","relation":"context","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"the new type of scam that uses AI to copy the voices of family members.","relation":"context","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The call came on Monday 23 March. After a crying voice presented as the man's daughter said an accident had happened and asked for help, a male voice identified as a medic said the daughter had been in a collision, and a second male voice said the daughter had been taken hostage after interrupting a drug transaction. The second voice made threats against the daughter and demanded money to cover the interrupted transaction, and the man was ordered to keep the call going.","causal_attribution":"The man's account as told to the newspaper. The article does not identify the callers or say how the call was traced."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"I did whatever I could to cooperate for the next 30 hours.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"drive all over the Palouse and Idaho to get money to save her life","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"which is what the voice said it would take to buy his daughter’s freedom","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"For about 30 hours the callers kept the man on the phone and directed the man to banks and stores in Washington and Idaho to withdraw cash and send transfers. The man intended to withdraw $17,000, the sum the callers said would buy the daughter's freedom.","causal_attribution":"The man's account and the newspaper's narration. The bank employee's account covers only the final stop."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"$13,000 and was in the process of getting thousands more","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"has not been able to recover any of the funds he wired from the multiple stores","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The man wired $13,000 in transfers directed by the callers and, when the article was published, had not been able to recover any of the money.","causal_attribution":"The amount is the newspaper's figure from the man's account. No bank, store or transfer record was inspected."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"the afternoon of Tuesday, March 24","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"I was just buying time","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"indicated that police had been alerted","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"She merged the calls","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"was absolutely safe","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The ordeal ended at a bank branch on the afternoon of Tuesday 24 March. A bank employee stalled the withdrawal while police were alerted, and police then reached the daughter through the man's wife. The daughter confirmed being at home and safe. The newspaper quotes the responding officer's written report for the exchange.","causal_attribution":"The bank employee's account and the officer's report as quoted by the newspaper. The police report itself was not inspected. The daughter's statement that the daughter was safe reaches the record only through the officer's report as quoted by the newspaper."},{"id":"c6","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"I’ve never felt helpless like that","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"It took me days to literally start feeling normal again","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"I almost collapsed","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"it’s taken her husband a long time to recover from the ordeal","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The man told the newspaper that the ordeal left a feeling of helplessness and that it took days to start feeling normal again. The newspaper reports the man's wife saying it took the man a long time to recover.","causal_attribution":"The family's own statements to the newspaper. No clinical or other independent source is cited."}],"effects":[{"label":"Man reported wiring $13,000 at the callers' direction during a 30-hour fake-kidnapping call built on a reported AI copy of the daughter's voice, with none recovered","claim_id":"c4","direction":"negative"},{"label":"Man described helplessness and days of distress after the call, and the man's wife said recovery took a long time","claim_id":"c6","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/may/08/his-daughter-called-him-crying-and-then-another-vo/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in full on the live page (about 18,000 characters including page navigation).","independence_group":"spokesman-review-2026-05-08-account"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/daughter-called-him-crying-then-020400580.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Syndicated copy of the same Spokesman-Review article, dated 11 May 2026 (12 May UTC), with straight quotation marks. Adds no independent reporting.","independence_group":"spokesman-review-2026-05-08-account"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["finance","relationships","everyday_life"],"unknowns":["The article gives 'Monday, March 23' and 'Tuesday, March 24' without a year. The article is dated 8 May 2026 and says the Federal Trade Commission began warning about AI voice-copy scams as early as 2023. Among 2023 to 2026, 23 March fell on a Monday only in 2026 (Thursday in 2023, Saturday in 2024, Sunday in 2025), so the record uses 2026. No source prints the year, and the 2023 lower bound rests on the article's description of the scam type as new.","The identity and location of the callers, the tool that produced the voice and the source recording are not known. The family does not know how the callers obtained the daughter's voice.","The investigators who surmised the use of a recording and a program are not identified in the article, and no forensic audio analysis is reported.","The total of $13,000 is the newspaper's figure. The itemised transfers in the article appear to add up to about $12,500, and the article does not reconcile the difference.","The newspaper does not quote the daughter directly, reports the daughter's statement only through the officer's report, and withheld the daughter's identity at the family's request. No consequence to the daughter is reported beyond the use of the voice.","The man spoke with police and FBI investigators after the ordeal. No outcome of any investigation is reported.","The article reports transfers to a recipient in Mexico, calls from numbers with Oregon, Washington and Idaho area codes and a caller with a Scottish accent. None of these establishes where the callers were.","The account rests on one newspaper report built on the man's statements, a bank employee's statements and a police report. The Yahoo copy is the same article, so the report is one reporting chain."],"geography":{"basis":"The article places the events in a county and towns in the state of Washington and in Idaho, refers to the FBI and the FTC, and reports call numbers with Oregon, Washington and Idaho area codes. It also reports transfers to a recipient in Mexico, which does not establish where the callers were. The callers' location is unknown and no court proceeding is reported.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["US"],"affected_person_countries":["US"]},"publication":{"basis":"One newspaper report based on the man's account, a bank employee's account and a police report. The man spoke to the newspaper under the man's own name and is described by role here because the newspaper withheld the daughter's identity at the family's request. Bank staff, police officers and the man's wife are not named. The AI attribution is the newspaper's statement resting on unnamed investigators' surmise, so all claims are marked reported. The article prints no year for the call, and the year 2026 is derived from its weekday and date pairs (Monday 23 March, Tuesday 24 March) within the range the article supports, as set out in the first unknown.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-30"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The newspaper states in its own voice that the voice was an AI-generated copy and reports that investigators, not identified in the article, later surmised the callers used a recording of the daughter's voice and a program that mimicked the speech pattern. A bank employee describes an AI-generated voice that the man could not tell from the daughter's. No forensic audio analysis, tool or source recording is reported, and the family does not know how the callers obtained the voice.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with","depicted_or_impersonated"]},"name":"Washington man reports wiring $13,000 during a 30-hour fake-kidnapping call that used a reported AI copy of the daughter's voice","summary":"The Spokesman-Review (8 May 2026) reported that a 75-year-old man in Washington state took a call on Monday 23 March in which a crying voice presented as the man's adult daughter said an accident had happened and asked for help. Male voices then described a collision and said the daughter had been taken hostage. The newspaper states that the daughter's voice on the call was an AI-generated copy and that investigators later surmised the callers used a recording of the daughter's voice with a program that mimicked the speech pattern. Over about 30 hours the callers directed the man to banks and stores in Washington and Idaho, where $13,000 was wired. The man was about to withdraw $17,000 when a bank employee stalled and police were alerted, and police then reached the daughter, who confirmed being at home and safe. The newspaper says none of the wired money had been recovered when the article was published. The man says it took days to start feeling normal again. The report rests on the man's account, a bank employee's account and a police report quoted by the newspaper. The article gives the call date as Monday 23 March without a year. The record uses 2026 because 23 March fell on a Monday only in 2026 among the years 2023 to 2026. The range starts at 2023 because the article says the Federal Trade Commission began warning about AI voice-copy scams as early as 2023, and it ends at 2026 because the article was published on 8 May 2026.","incidentDate":"2026-03-23","incidentEndDate":"2026-03-24","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"range","exposurePattern":"repeated_interactions","reportedDate":"2026-05-08","aiSystem":"Unidentified AI voice-cloning program (the newspaper calls the voice an AI-generated copy of the daughter's voice, and investigators surmised a recording and a program were used)","aiProduct":"Unidentified voice-cloning tool","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"unverified","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["financial_loss","psychological_distress"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"The Spokesman-Review reports that $13,000 was wired at the callers' direction and that none of it had been recovered when the article was published. The newspaper quotes the man saying \"It took me days to literally start feeling normal again\" and reports the man's wife saying it took the man a long time to recover. These are the family's own statements. No bank or transfer record was inspected.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person, the man who wired $13,000 and reports distress, is reported harmed. The daughter's voice was imitated and no consequence to the daughter is reported, so the daughter is not counted. The man's wife, who was travelling and was contacted by police, is not reported harmed and is not counted.","victimAgeRange":"elderly","platformType":"other","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/may/08/his-daughter-called-him-crying-and-then-another-vo/","primarySourceLabel":"The Spokesman-Review, 8 May 2026","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-30T01:09:20.323064+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:44:22.537424+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["historical-2026"]}]}