{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-10-11T08:54:43.672Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"fake-politician-advertisement","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"core","evidence":"","year":"2025","response":"","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":1,"coverage":{"cases":1,"countries":1,"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":"2025-cyprus-ai-generated-politician-videos-investment-scam-losses-consumers-association-says","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Citizens who fall victim to investment fraud through manipulated videos of politicians encouraging investments are receiving threats when they discover the deception and demand explanations, according to the Cyprus Consumers Association.'; '14 people reported their experiences with these scams in just one day'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The Cyprus Consumers Association says victims of an investment fraud promoted by manipulated videos of politicians received threats when they discovered the deception, and that 14 people reported their experiences with these scams in one day.","causal_attribution":"Statement of the association's president to CyBC as relayed by in-cyprus.com."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'The deception typically begins with a request for a €250 investment, but in one case, losses exceeded €40,000. Some victims reported investing their last available funds.'; 'In one case, a €40,000 investment supposedly grew to €195,000 on paper, but the money was never recoverable.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"According to the association, the scam typically began with a €250 investment; in one case losses exceeded €40,000, and some victims reported investing their last available funds.","causal_attribution":"Association account; no victim speaks and the amounts are not independently established."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'The fraudulent videos feature several prominent figures without their knowledge, including the President of the Republic, Averof Neofytou, and Haris Georgiades. Recently, a government minister was also incorporated into these schemes.'; 'The AI-generated videos show these officials appearing to recommend investments as a solution to economic difficulties.'; 'Drousiotis noted the sophisticated nature of the deepfakes, where the lip movements of politicians matched the fraudulent statements attributed to them.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"in-cyprus.com describes the videos as AI-generated, showing the President of the Republic, Averof Neofytou, Haris Georgiades and a government minister appearing to recommend investments, and reports the association president noting that the politicians' lip movements matched the fraudulent statements.","causal_attribution":"The outlet's description of the videos and the association's comment; no forensic examination is reported."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'The scam operates through a sequence of social media videos, followed by phone calls.'; 'When users express interest, they receive a call from someone claiming to be a “financial advisor” who creates a personal account showing rapidly increasing profits.'; 'When victims eventually try to withdraw funds, they face excuses, delays, and eventually, no response at all.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The scam ran through social-media videos followed by calls from a supposed financial adviser who showed rapidly growing profits, after which withdrawals met excuses, delays and no response.","causal_attribution":"Association account relayed by the outlet."}],"effects":[{"label":"lost money, in one case more than €40,000, to an investment scam promoted by AI-generated videos of politicians","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://in-cyprus.philenews.com/local/cyprus-investment-scam-deepfake-politician-videos-threats/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English from an Internet Archive capture (https://web.archive.org/web/2026id_/ prefix) on 2026-10-11 because the live page returned 403. in-cyprus.com (Phileleftheros group) report of 12 May 2025 relaying the Consumers Association president's interview with CyBC; the CyBC interview itself was not read.","independence_group":"cyprus-consumers-association-cybc-interview"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["finance","everyday_life"],"unknowns":["How many people lost money and the total amount; only one loss (over €40,000) is described individually.","When individual victims invested; the association had monitored the scheme since early January and spoke in May 2025.","Which AI tool produced the videos and on which platforms they circulated.","Whether police identified any perpetrator; the nature of the threats victims received.","The CyBC interview itself was not read; the account rests on one relay."],"geography":{"basis":"The association describes citizens in Cyprus who fell victim and some who reported the scams to the police; the videos depicted Cypriot politicians. No court proceeding is reported.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["CY"],"affected_person_countries":["CY"]},"publication":{"basis":"One attributed account (the Cyprus Consumers Association president to CyBC, relayed by in-cyprus.com) describes people in Cyprus who lost money, one more than €40,000, after investment offers promoted by videos the outlet describes as AI-generated deepfakes of politicians. Published as a reported account with a partial count.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-11"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"in-cyprus.com, reporting the Cyprus Consumers Association president's CyBC interview, describes the videos as AI-generated deepfakes in which Cypriot politicians appear to recommend investments, with lip movements matched to the false statements, and says the scam ran through these social-media videos followed by calls from a fake adviser; people who responded lost money, one more than €40,000. The generated likenesses impersonated the politicians toward the people deceived (depicted_or_impersonated). No tool is named and no examination of the videos is reported.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["depicted_or_impersonated"]},"name":"Cyprus: consumers association says people misled by deepfake videos of politicians lost money in an investment scam, one case over €40,000","summary":"The Cyprus Consumers Association said in May 2025 that people in Cyprus who fell for an investment scam promoted by deepfake videos of politicians, including the President of the Republic, Averof Neofytou and Haris Georgiades, lost money: the scam typically began with a €250 investment, one person lost more than €40,000, and some victims reported investing their last available funds. The association's president told CyBC that victims who discovered the deception and demanded explanations received threats, and that 14 people reported their experiences with these scams in one day. The account comes from one interview relayed by in-cyprus.com; no individual victim speaks, no tool is named and the videos were not examined by the outlet.","incidentDate":"2025-01-01","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"year","exposurePattern":"repeated_interactions","reportedDate":"2025-05-12","aiSystem":"Videos that in-cyprus.com, reporting the Cyprus Consumers Association president's CyBC interview, describes as AI-generated deepfakes of Cypriot politicians appearing to recommend investments, with lip movements matched to the false statements; tool not identified","aiProduct":"Unidentified video tool","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["financial_loss"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"The Cyprus Consumers Association says people who fell for investment offers promoted by deepfake videos of Cypriot politicians lost money, one of them more than €40,000, some their last available funds, and that victims who demanded explanations received threats.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"partial","affectedCountEvidence":"One person is described individually: the case in which losses exceeded €40,000. 'Some victims' who invested their last funds and victims who received threats are unquantified plurals. The 14 people who reported their experiences in one day are reports, not established losses, and the depicted politicians are not counted. Partial, minimum 1.","victimAgeRange":"unknown","jurisdiction":"CY","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"media_coverage","outcomeStatus":"unknown","primarySourceUrl":"https://in-cyprus.philenews.com/local/cyprus-investment-scam-deepfake-politician-videos-threats/","primarySourceLabel":"in-cyprus.com, 12 May 2025: Cyprus investment scam victims face threats after falling for deepfake politician videos","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-11T03:10:56.203213+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-11T03:10:56.203213+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["deepfake","fake-politician-advertisement","investment-fraud","fraud","cyprus","depicted-or-impersonated"]}]}