{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-11-07T02:13:13.069Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"financial-loss","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"","evidence":"","year":"2024","response":"","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":2,"coverage":{"cases":2,"countries":1,"languages":2,"unknownLocation":1,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":0,"lawsuits":0,"regulatory":0,"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":"2024-crypto-user-says-chatgpt-written-trading-bot-code-sent-wallet-private-key-to-scam-api-and-about-2500-dollars-was-stolen","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Today I was trying to write a bump bot for https://t.co/cIAVsMwwFk and asked @ChatGPTapp to help me with the code. I got what I asked but I didn’t expect that chatGPT would recommend me a scam @solana API website. I lost around $2.5k","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"What he did not expect was that ChatGPT would suggest a fraudulent Solana API website.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The user says he asked ChatGPT to help write a bump bot for Pump.fun and that ChatGPT recommended a scam Solana API website in the code.","causal_attribution":"His own X post, embedded by Cryptopolitan and paraphrased by Heise; one origin."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"He explains that he took code suggested by ChatGPT that transmits the private key via the API. He also used his main Solana wallet.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"The victim showed part of the code where it was necessary to send a private key to the API as recommended by ChatGPT.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"By his account the code sent the wallet private key to that API, and he had connected his main wallet.","causal_attribution":"His own account and screenshot as described by two outlets; one origin."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"This took place within 30 minutes after he had sent a request.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"linked his main wallet and lost $2,500 as a result.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"About $2,500 was taken from the wallet, moved to another address within about half an hour.","causal_attribution":"His account of the loss as relayed; the amount is his estimate."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"In this regard, Yu Xian characterized the root cause of the incident as \"AI poisoning attack\" and pointed out that there is widespread deception in LLMs such as ChatGPT and Claude.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"},{"locator":"The founder of the SlowMist on-chain security firm corroborated the story, stating that the most probable explanation was that the user was playing around with AI without verifying the code. The end product was a functional bot with a carefully disguised backdoor.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"SlowMist's founder characterised the cause as an AI poisoning attack, saying the bot code had a backdoor.","causal_attribution":"The security firm founder's public comment after looking at the wallet, as relayed; it is his explanation, not an established cause."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"He reported the chat history with the fraudulent program code to OpenAI. He informed Github about the fraudulent repository, whereupon it was quickly removed.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"He reported the chat history to OpenAI and the repository to GitHub, which removed it.","causal_attribution":"Heise's account of his posts."},{"id":"c6","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"The code snippet, of which he shows a screenshot, even openly states what it does: \"Payload for POST request\" can be read as a comment, which is followed by the private key that programmers are supposed to enter.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Heise notes that the code's comment openly showed the private key being sent and that he used his main wallet instead of a test account.","causal_attribution":"Heise's own assessment of the screenshot; counterevidence on his own part in the loss."}],"effects":[{"label":"about $2,500 taken from his main crypto wallet (his account)","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.heise.de/en/news/ChatGPT-Code-with-fraudulent-API-costs-programmers-2500-US-dollars-10169338.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-25 from Heise's print view (HTTP 200). Heise says the English text was translated from its German original with technical assistance and editorially reviewed.","independence_group":"user-x-thread-and-slowmist-founder-post-nov-2024"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://forklog.com/en/chatgpt-recommendation-leads-to-phishing-loss-for-crypto-user/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-25 (HTTP 200); it relays the X posts of the user and the SlowMist founder, the latter in Chinese with an English rendering.","independence_group":"user-x-thread-and-slowmist-founder-post-nov-2024"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.cryptopolitan.com/solana-wallet-exploit-ai-poisoning-attack/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-25 (HTTP 200); it embeds the user's X post.","independence_group":"user-x-thread-and-slowmist-founder-post-nov-2024"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://www.odaily.news/en/post/5199958","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-25 from Odaily's English page (HTTP 200), which describes the user's screenshots and the SlowMist founder's comment.","independence_group":"user-x-thread-and-slowmist-founder-post-nov-2024"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["finance","everyday_life"],"unknowns":["When the conversation and the theft happened beyond his post of 21 November 2024.","The full ChatGPT conversation, and whether ChatGPT produced the API address itself or reproduced it from code it drew on.","Whether OpenAI responded or any funds were recovered."],"geography":{"basis":"No source states where the user lives or where the loss occurred; no country is recorded.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a concrete first-person account, relayed by four outlets, that code ChatGPT wrote at the user's request sent his wallet's private key to a scam API, after which about $2,500 was taken. The account is attributed and uncorroborated; a security firm founder's comment and the outlets' criticism of his own handling are recorded.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-25"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The user says ChatGPT, asked to help write a trading-bot script, returned code that pointed to a scam Solana API website and sent his wallet's private key to it, and that running the code with his main wallet led to the theft; outlets describe his screenshots of the code, and the SlowMist founder said the bot code carried a backdoor. The conversation itself is not published, so the AI output rests on his account and screenshots.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Crypto user says ChatGPT-written trading bot code sent his wallet's private key to a scam API and about $2,500 was stolen","summary":"On 21 November 2024 a cryptocurrency user posted on X that he had asked ChatGPT to help write a 'bump bot' for the Pump.fun token platform, and that the code it returned pointed to a scam Solana API website. By his account, the code sent his wallet's private key to that API; he had connected his main wallet, and its assets, about $2,500, were moved out within about half an hour. The founder of the blockchain security firm SlowMist commented that the bot code carried a backdoor and called the case an AI poisoning attack. Heise, ForkLog, Cryptopolitan and Odaily relayed the posts on 22 and 25 November 2024. He said he reported the chat to OpenAI and the source repository to GitHub, which removed it. Heise noted that the code's own comment showed the private key being sent and that he had used his main wallet rather than a test account.","incidentDate":"2024-11-01","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"single_interaction","reportedDate":"2024-11-22","aiSystem":"ChatGPT, which the user says wrote the bot code and in doing so pointed it to a scam Solana API website","aiProduct":"ChatGPT (reported)","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["financial_loss"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"The user says the ChatGPT-written bot code sent his wallet's private key to a scam API and about $2,500 was taken from his main wallet (his public account, relayed by four outlets).","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person: the user who posted. Other wallets drained by the same address (Cryptopolitan) are not described as ChatGPT users and are not counted.","victimAgeRange":"adult","platformType":"other","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.heise.de/en/news/ChatGPT-Code-with-fraudulent-API-costs-programmers-2500-US-dollars-10169338.html","primarySourceLabel":"Heise online (English edition), 25 Nov 2024: ChatGPT code with a fraudulent API costs a programmer 2,500 US dollars","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-25T03:20:25.096615+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-25T03:20:25.096615+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["chatgpt","cryptocurrency","malicious-code","phishing","financial-loss"]},{"id":"2024-alicante-pensioner-ai-generated-persona-romance-scam","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'El 11 de noviembre de 2024 recibió un correo que cambió el rumbo de su vida.'; 'Con fotos y vídeos —en realidad, creados por inteligencia artificial— logró ganarse su confianza.'; 'Convencido de estar conociendo a una doctora de 43 años en Kazajistán, acabó enviando un total 8.800 euros.'; 'Un amigo intentó advertirle del fraude, pero'; 'le dio la espalda'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'el 29 de noviembre de 2024 recibió el primer mensaje de Ainur'; 'me dijo que tenía 43 años, que era médico de una aldea y que buscaba hombres serios'; 'me sorprendió que contactara conmigo por email'; 'La realidad es que ella no existe, es una trampa creada mediante IA.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"In November 2024 the pensioner received an email from a woman presenting herself as a 43-year-old doctor in Kazakhstan seeking a serious relationship (Levante-EMV dates the email 11 November 2024; Antena 3 dates the first message 29 November 2024), who won his trust with photographs and videos that were in fact created by artificial intelligence; a friend who warned him of the fraud was rebuffed.","causal_attribution":"His account as told to the newspapers; the AI origin of the images is the police conclusion as he relayed it to Levante-EMV and Antena 3's own statement."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'un jubilado de 78 años residente en Alicante, perdió todos sus ahorros en apenas tres meses'; 'terminó enviando en total 8.800 euros, parte de ellos procedentes de la venta de su piso en Benidorm.'; 'comparte piso con otros tres jubilados en Alicante.'; 'Primero, 2.000 euros para un billete de avión. Después, otros 2.000 para gastos inesperados.'; 'le reclamaron un supuesto depósito de 10.000 euros'; 'Aunque nunca llegó a reunir esa cifra'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'ha perdido todos sus ahorros (8.800 euros)'; 'Tras enviar un total de 8.800 euros'; 'Ahora vivo en un piso compartido'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"He sent 8,800 euros in total over about three months (Levante-EMV itemises 2,000 euros for a plane ticket and 2,000 for unexpected expenses, then a demanded 10,000-euro deposit he never raised in full; the remainder is not itemised), part of it from the sale of his flat in Benidorm, losing all his savings; he now shares a flat with three other pensioners in Alicante.","causal_attribution":"His account as told to the newspaper."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'en pleno viaje llegó el último correo: ella había sido detenida en su país'; 'Para liberarla debía pagar una multa o enfrentarse a prisión.'; 'Se dirigió a la Policía Nacional, donde confirmaron lo que tanto temía: había sido víctima de una estafa. Las imágenes y vídeos eran falsos, creados con inteligencia artificial, y la mujer nunca había existido.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'me contó que la habían detenido en la aduana con una pieza de arte que no se podía sacar del país'; 'Enseguida la agente me aseguró que se trataba de una estafa del amor de libro'","relation":"context","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"When a final email said the woman had been detained in Kazakhstan and needed a fine paid, he went to the National Police, who confirmed he had been the victim of a scam and that the images and videos were false, created with artificial intelligence, of a woman who never existed.","causal_attribution":"His account of the police confirmation, as reported by the newspaper."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'ella falleció en 2022'; 'Aquella pérdida le sumió en una depresión que le mantuvo dos años en tratamiento.'; 'Tras el duelo, sus terapeutas le recomendaron socializar, abrirse a nuevas experiencias y explorar las redes sociales.'; 'Y ahí empezó todo.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'triste y solo tras la pérdida de su mujer, se refugió en las redes sociales'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"After his wife's death in 2022 and two years of treatment for depression, his therapists had recommended that he socialise and explore social networks, which is how the contact began.","causal_attribution":"His account as told to the newspaper; context, not causation."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'le mandé 2.100 euros'; 'Dijo que necesitaba 10.000 euros, yo le envíe 2.300 más que era lo que tenía, pero me contestó que necesitaba aún 4.400 euros más y pedí un anticipo a un familiar que me estaba pagando un piso que le había vendido y se lo mandé'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Antena 3's account itemises the payments as 2,100 euros for tickets, 2,300 euros towards a claimed 10,000-euro visa cost, and 4,400 euros more raised as an advance from a relative who was paying him for a flat he had sold, for a total of 8,800 euros.","causal_attribution":"His account as told to Antena 3; differs in detail from the Levante-EMV itemisation."},{"id":"c6","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Me dijo que no podía por su compañía de teléfono y porque su móvil era malo. Se lo comenté a un amigo y me dijo que era sospechoso. Yo entonces se lo dije a ella y me envió un vídeo para que no sospechara'; 'Después de recibir el vídeo, el afectado comenzó a cumplir las peticiones'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"When he asked to speak by phone she declined, citing her phone company and handset; after a friend called this suspicious and he told her so, she sent him a video so that he would not suspect, after which he began meeting her requests for money.","causal_attribution":"His account as told to Antena 3; Antena 3 does not separately state that this particular video was AI-generated."},{"id":"c7","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'necesitaba 22.000 euros más'; 'acudió a todo tipo de entidades financieras para obtener un préstamo y mandar el dinero solicitado, pero todos se lo negaron'; 'contactó con un programa de televisión para contar la historia de Ainur y tras analizar la situación destaparon todo el engaño'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"After a final message said she had been detained at customs and needed 22,000 euros more, he sought a loan from financial institutions, which all refused, and contacted a television programme that examined the story and exposed the deception.","causal_attribution":"Antena 3's account; Levante-EMV instead describes the National Police confirming the scam and does not mention the television programme or the 22,000 euros."},{"id":"c8","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'ha perdido su dinero y su hogar, ya que tuvo que abandonar el piso en alquiler en el que residía'; 'Solo le queda su pensión mensual de 1000 euros'; 'Me afecto psicológicamente, pero lo he superado'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"He lost his home as well as his money, having had to leave the rented flat where he lived, and is left with a monthly pension of 1,000 euros; he said the scam affected him psychologically but that he has overcome it.","causal_attribution":"His account as told to Antena 3."}],"effects":[{"label":"lost all his savings (8,800 euros, part from selling his flat) to a romance scam built on AI-generated images and videos; now shares a flat with three other pensioners","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"},{"label":"had to leave his rented flat and said the scam affected him psychologically, which he says he has overcome","claim_id":"c8","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.levante-emv.com/sociedad/2025/09/25/jubilado-alicante-pierde-ahorros-estafa-amor-creada-ia-121945634.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"es","translation_note":"Read live in Spanish on 2026-09-23 and re-read on 2026-10-06 (HTTP 200): Levante-EMV, 25 September 2025; byline C. Suena; foot of the article credits Diario Información; photographs EFE/Morell. Feature built on the victim's interview. Spanish passages were translated by the research agent (an AI).","independence_group":"prensa-iberica"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.antena3.com/noticias/sociedad/nueva-victima-estafa-amor-jubilado-pierde-todos-sus-ahorros-engano-creado-afecto-psicologicamente_2025092468d3dd60f158e014f6f2bdc8.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"es","translation_note":"Read live in Spanish on 2026-10-04 and re-read on 2026-10-06 (HTTP 200): Antena 3 Noticias, Atresmedia, 24 September 2025; byline Adrián Ballesteros; no agency credit. A separate interview with the same man, with quotations that do not appear in Levante-EMV, so it is a separate reporting chain from s1; both relay his own account, which this record does not treat as independent corroboration. Related-article cards on the page were not used. Spanish passages were translated by the research agent (an AI).","independence_group":"atresmedia"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["finance","relationships","everyday_life"],"unknowns":["Whether the police identified or prosecuted the scammers or recovered any money.","The tools used to generate the persona's images and videos and whether the emails themselves were AI-written.","The end date of the payments (Levante-EMV says about three months; neither source states an end date).","Whether the scammers were in Kazakhstan.","Whether the newspaper or an agency conducted the interview (byline C. Suena; foot credits Diario Información; photographs EFE).","The date of first contact: Levante-EMV gives 11 November 2024 and Antena 3 29 November 2024; the incident date is recorded as November 2024.","The payment itemisation and the final demand differ between the accounts (Levante-EMV: a fine of unstated size; Antena 3: 22,000 euros more), as does who exposed the scam (Levante-EMV: the National Police; Antena 3: a television programme he contacted, alongside a police report)."],"geography":{"basis":"He lived in Benidorm and now lives in Alicante and reported to the Policía Nacional (Levante-EMV); the emails and payments are presumed to have been received and sent from Spain, which the article does not state expressly; the scammers' claimed location (Kazakhstan) is not established. No court proceeding is reported. Antena 3 adds that he set off by bus from Alicante to meet her in Madrid.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["ES"],"affected_person_countries":["ES"]},"publication":{"basis":"A bereaved pensioner in Alicante lost his savings (8,800 euros) and, by his account to Antena 3, his rented home to a romance scam in which AI-generated photographs and videos of a non-existent woman won his trust and allayed his suspicion before he paid. The AI connection rests on the police finding as he relayed it to Levante-EMV and on Antena 3's own statement; all claims are reported. He chose to be named in both sources; the record withholds his name and biography beyond the case.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-06"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"Levante-EMV reports that the persona of a 43-year-old doctor won his trust with photographs and videos that were in fact created by artificial intelligence, and that the National Police, as he recounted, confirmed the images and videos were false, created with artificial intelligence, of a woman who never existed. Antena 3 Noticias states in its own voice that she does not exist and that the scheme was a trap created with AI, and relays his account that she sent him a video so that he would not suspect, after which he began meeting her requests for money. The generated images and videos presented a fictitious woman to him as a real suitor, so the relation is depicted_or_impersonated. The generation tools are not identified, no police statement was inspected directly, and whether the emails were AI-written is unknown.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["depicted_or_impersonated"]},"name":"Alicante pensioner says he lost his savings to a romance scam whose photos and videos police told him were AI-generated of a woman who never existed","summary":"A feature carried by Levante-EMV on 25 September 2025 (byline C. Suena, sourced from Diario Información, photographs EFE/Morell) tells the story of a 78-year-old widower and pensioner living in Alicante who, after his wife's death in 2022 and two years of treatment for depression, was advised by his therapists to socialise and explore social networks. On 11 November 2024 he received an email from a woman presenting herself as a 43-year-old doctor in Kazakhstan seeking a serious relationship; with photographs and videos that were in fact created by artificial intelligence she won his trust, and a friend who warned him was rebuffed. Requests for money followed: 2,000 euros for a plane ticket, another 2,000 for unexpected expenses, then a supposed 10,000-euro deposit demanded by the Kazakh government; he never raised that sum in full but sent 8,800 euros in total, part of it from the sale of his flat in Benidorm. On his way to Madrid airport to meet her he received a final email saying she had been detained for carrying a family icon out of the country and needed a fine paid; he went to the National Police, who confirmed a scam: the images and videos were fake, created with AI, and the woman had never existed. He lost all his savings in about three months and now shares a flat with three other pensioners in Alicante; he told his story so that others would not fall into the same trap. A separate Antena 3 Noticias interview of 24 September 2025 dates the first message to 29 November 2024, itemises the 8,800 euros differently, says a television programme he contacted exposed the deception and that he reported it at a police station, and adds that he had to leave his rented flat and was left with a 1,000-euro monthly pension; he told Antena 3 the scam affected him psychologically but that he has overcome it.","incidentDate":"2024-11-01","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"repeated_interactions","reportedDate":"2025-09-24","aiSystem":"AI image and video generation used to fabricate the persona's photographs and videos; tools not identified","aiProduct":"Unidentified image and video tool","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["financial_loss","psychological_distress"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"A bereaved 78-year-old lost all his savings (8,800 euros sent, part from the sale of his flat) over about three months to a romance scam built on AI-generated photographs and videos of a fictitious woman, and now shares a flat with three other pensioners; the loss and the police confirmation are his own account as told to the newspaper. The feature's remark that such frauds leave deep emotional scars is the National Police's general statement, not his account. In a separate Antena 3 interview he said the scam affected him psychologically but that he has overcome it, and Antena 3 reports that he had to leave the rented flat where he lived.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person, the pensioner who sent the money (Levante-EMV feature; the separate Antena 3 interview concerns the same man). Exact 1.","victimAgeRange":"elderly","jurisdiction":"ES","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"media_coverage","outcomeStatus":"resolved","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.levante-emv.com/sociedad/2025/09/25/jubilado-alicante-pierde-ahorros-estafa-amor-creada-ia-121945634.html","primarySourceLabel":"Levante-EMV, 25 September 2025: Un jubilado de Alicante pierde todos sus ahorros en una estafa del amor creada con inteligencia artificial","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-23T03:46:03.259662+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-06T03:01:44.214881+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["romance-scam","ai-generated-persona","spain","alicante","elderly","financial-loss","bereavement"]}]}