{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-10-29T05:52:04.322Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"fraud-call-centre","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"","evidence":"","year":"","response":"","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":1,"coverage":{"cases":1,"countries":1,"languages":1,"unknownLocation":0,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":1,"lawsuits":0,"regulatory":1,"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-taiwan-police-say-taichung-call-centre-used-ai-face-swap-video-calls-in-romance-investment-fraud-of-women-in-us-and-canada","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"於113年11月執行第一波拘搜行動，攻堅位於沙鹿區的詐欺話務機房 ... 機房成員一見警方攻堅，立即將部分工作手機丟入事先準備好的硫酸桶內試圖滅證。","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"In November 2024 a police task force under Taichung prosecutors raided a fraud call centre in Shalu district, Taichung; members threw work phones into a bucket of sulphuric acid to destroy evidence.","causal_attribution":"Police account as reported; one origin."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"該話務機房先設定「各類人設」與美加地區女性華僑培養感情 ... 嫌犯利用「AI人臉替換工具」變臉軟體與被害人視訊，由於畫面相當逼真，不少被害人信以為真，嫌犯取得信任後，再以各種話術誘使被害人投資。 ... 員警示範嫌犯使用的「AI人臉替換工具」，只要套上圖庫立即變臉，視訊畫面相當逼真。","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Police say the call centre set up personas to build relationships with overseas Chinese women in the US and Canada and used an AI face-replacement tool to change faces in video calls with them; because the picture was very realistic many believed it, and the suspects then induced them to invest. Officers demonstrated the tool.","causal_attribution":"The AI attribution is the investigating police's, who say the suspects used the tool and demonstrated it; the tool is not named."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"誘使被害人投資各種假能源標的，匯款到嫌犯提供的帳戶","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Police say the victims were induced to invest in fake energy products and to send money to accounts the suspects provided.","causal_attribution":"Police account as reported."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"檢警分析手機資料後發現有7名美加地區的女性華僑遭到詐騙，透過國際科向美加2國協查，查出目前財損約新台幣350萬元，受害人與金額持續統計清查中。","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Police say analysis of the seized phones found seven women in the US and Canada who had been defrauded, with losses identified so far of about NT$3.5 million, and that victims and amounts were still being compiled.","causal_attribution":"Police figures from the phone analysis and US/Canada inquiries; a lower bound by their own account."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"等9嫌移送台中地檢署偵辦，其中7嫌裁定羈押。 ... 114年3月查獲負責製作及架設假投資網站前後端平臺","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Nine suspects were referred to Taichung prosecutors and seven were ordered detained; two suspects responsible for building and designing the fake investment website were found in March 2025.","causal_attribution":"Police account of the procedural steps as reported."}],"effects":[{"label":"women in the US and Canada deceived through face-swapped video calls and fake investments; about NT$3.5 million lost by seven women identified so far","claim_id":"c4","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://tw.news.yahoo.com/ai%E6%B7%B1%E5%81%BD-1%E7%A7%92%E8%AE%8A%E7%94%B7%E6%98%9F-%E6%84%9B%E6%83%85%E8%A9%90%E9%A8%99%E7%BE%8E%E5%8A%A0%E5%A5%B3%E8%8F%AF%E5%83%91350%E8%90%AC-%E5%9C%96%E5%BA%AB%E9%A9%9A%E8%A6%8B%E9%98%AE%E7%B6%93%E5%A4%A9-%E7%8E%8B%E9%99%BD%E6%98%8E-035400182.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"zh-TW","translation_note":"Read in Chinese by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-28 and again on 2026-10-29; English renderings are the agent's own translation. SETN (Sanlih) report published on Yahoo News Taiwan on 4 Jun 2025, based on the police and Criminal Investigation Bureau account; HTTP 200.","independence_group":"taiwan-cib-shalu-call-centre-police-account-jun-2025"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["finance","relationships"],"unknowns":["Which face-swap tool was used.","When the frauds took place; the source gives only the November 2024 raid and the 2025 arrests.","How much each woman lost and how many of the video calls used the face swap.","Whether the suspects were indicted or convicted, and whether any money was recovered."],"geography":{"basis":"Police say the call centre that ran the video calls operated in Shalu district, Taichung, so TW is recorded as the event country. The victims are described as overseas Chinese women in the US and Canada, and police made inquiries with the two countries, so US and CA are recorded as affected-person countries. No court has ruled; Taichung prosecutors are investigating.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["TW"],"affected_person_countries":["US","CA"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a core case (communicated_with): the investigating police say a fraud call centre spoke to women in the US and Canada through video calls in which an AI face-replacement tool showed them a persona's face, and used the trust this won to take their money in fake investments. The AI attribution rests on the police account, including their demonstration of the tool; the record rests on one police account carried by one outlet.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-29"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"Taiwanese police, who seized the call centre's phones, say the suspects used an AI face-replacement tool during video calls so that the women saw a persona's face, that the realistic picture made many victims believe the persona was real, and that the suspects used the trust gained to induce the investments; a photo caption in the report says officers demonstrated the tool. The tool is not named and the source does not say how many calls used it.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Taiwan police say a Taichung fraud call centre used an AI face-swap tool in video calls to win the trust of women in the US and Canada","summary":"Taiwanese police said in June 2025 that a fraud call centre in Shalu district, Taichung, had targeted overseas Chinese women in the United States and Canada with romance-investment fraud. According to the police account reported by SETN and carried by Yahoo News Taiwan on 4 June 2025, the call centre created a range of male personas, cultivated relationships with the women, and video-chatted with them through an 'AI face replacement tool' that swapped the operator's face for a persona's; because the picture was very realistic, police say, many victims believed it, after which they were talked into investing in fake energy products and sending money to accounts the suspects supplied. Police say analysis of seized phones identified seven women in the US and Canada who were defrauded, with losses of about NT$3.5 million so far, and that the number of victims and the amount were still being compiled. A photo caption in the report says officers demonstrated the face-replacement tool. The call centre was raided in November 2024, and nine suspects were referred to Taichung prosecutors, seven of them detained; no indictment or verdict has been found.","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"unknown","exposurePattern":"repeated_interactions","reportedDate":"2025-06-04","aiSystem":"An 'AI face replacement tool' (face-swap software) that the call centre used in live video calls to show victims a persona's face; tool not named","aiProduct":"Unidentified video tool","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["financial_loss"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"Taiwanese police say a Taichung call centre won the trust of overseas Chinese women in the US and Canada through video calls in which an AI tool swapped the operators' faces for personas', then talked them into fake energy investments; seven women identified so far lost about NT$3.5 million in total.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":7,"affectedCountStatus":"documented_minimum","affectedCountEvidence":"Police say analysis of seized phones found seven women in the US and Canada who were defrauded, and that the number of victims was still being compiled, so seven is a lower bound. The source does not say how many of them took part in face-swapped video calls.","victimAgeRange":"unknown","jurisdiction":"TW","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"investigation_opened","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://tw.news.yahoo.com/ai%E6%B7%B1%E5%81%BD-1%E7%A7%92%E8%AE%8A%E7%94%B7%E6%98%9F-%E6%84%9B%E6%83%85%E8%A9%90%E9%A8%99%E7%BE%8E%E5%8A%A0%E5%A5%B3%E8%8F%AF%E5%83%91350%E8%90%AC-%E5%9C%96%E5%BA%AB%E9%A9%9A%E8%A6%8B%E9%98%AE%E7%B6%93%E5%A4%A9-%E7%8E%8B%E9%99%BD%E6%98%8E-035400182.html","primarySourceLabel":"Yahoo News Taiwan (SETN), 4 Jun 2025: AI deepfake romance fraud took NT$3.5 million from overseas Chinese women in US and Canada","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-29T03:11:07.29356+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-29T03:11:07.29356+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["ai-face-swap","deepfake-video-call","romance-fraud","investment-fraud","fraud-call-centre","police-statement","taiwan","communicated-with"]}]}