{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-10-08T05:54:18.420Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"houston","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"","evidence":"","year":"","response":"","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":3,"coverage":{"cases":3,"countries":1,"languages":1,"unknownLocation":0,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":3,"lawsuits":0,"regulatory":0,"minors":0,"coreRelations":2,"contextualRelations":0,"mixedRelations":0,"unknownRelations":1,"relationPending":0,"relationUnknown":1},"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-houston-immigration-attorney-ai-altered-photos-used-to-impersonate-law-office-deceived-family-lost-money","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'A southwest Houston immigration attorney says people are stealing her photos, using artificial intelligence to alter the images and impersonating her office'; 'altered the images to make them appear connected to other people posing as attorneys'; 'people posing as attorneys have been using her images on platforms including Facebook and Instagram'; 'she is also concerned about the impact the impersonation could have on her reputation'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"A southwest Houston immigration attorney says people are stealing her photographs, altering them with artificial intelligence and using them on Facebook and Instagram to impersonate her office, with her image placed next to other people posing as attorneys; she says she is concerned about the impact on her reputation.","causal_attribution":"The attorney's account as reported by KHOU; no image examined and the tool not identified."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'says her law firm has recently received calls from people who say they paid money to someone impersonating her or her office'; 'said some people believed they were working with legitimate attorneys'; 'said she knows of more than 20 people who may have been targeted'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The attorney says her firm has received calls from people who paid money to someone impersonating her or her office, that some believed they were working with legitimate attorneys, and that she knows of more than 20 people who may have been targeted.","causal_attribution":"The attorney's account as reported by KHOU; the figure describes possible targets and is not a count of harmed people."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'One woman who said she paid money to someone she believed was legitimate agreed to speak by phone but did not want her identity revealed. She said the experience left her feeling angry and helpless after her family lost about $11,000'; 'The woman said she was promised a permit to stay in the United States within a month'; 'The couple also had what they believed were meetings with immigration agents'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"A woman interviewed by KHOU without her identity revealed said she paid money to someone she believed was legitimate after being promised a permit to stay in the United States within a month, that the couple attended what they believed were meetings with immigration agents, and that her family lost about $11,000.","causal_attribution":"The woman's own account as reported by KHOU; no record of the payment is cited."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'The woman said she began looking into the situation and eventually discovered the images being used were not legitimate'; 'She said she eventually realized the images were fake and were connected to'; 'Que la foto era falsa y estaba hecha con inteligencia artificial'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The woman said she later discovered that the images used were not legitimate and, in a Spanish-language quotation translated by the research agent, that the photo was fake and had been made with artificial intelligence; she said the images were connected to the law office.","causal_attribution":"The woman's own account as reported by KHOU; her statement that the photo was made with AI is her conclusion, not an examiner's finding."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'People who say they lost money reported the alleged scheme to the Houston Police Department. HPD said the case will be assigned to an investigator.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"KHOU reports that people who say they lost money reported the alleged scheme to the Houston Police Department, which said the case will be assigned to an investigator.","causal_attribution":"HPD's statement as relayed by KHOU; it confirms receipt of reports, not any finding about the images or the losses."}],"effects":[{"label":"attorney's photographs altered with AI and used on social media to impersonate her office","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"},{"label":"a woman's family lost about $11,000 to people posing as attorneys with the AI-altered images","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/houston-attorney-says-scammers-stole-032837396.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-08 on Yahoo News (HTTP 200); no translation was involved and no human reviewer read the article. Three short Spanish-language quotations from the interviewed woman appear in the article; the one relied on for c4 ('Que la foto era falsa y estaba hecha con inteligencia artificial', meaning the photo was fake and was made with artificial intelligence) was translated by the research agent (an AI). KHOU report by Anayeli Ruiz, Yahoo page timestamp 7 October 2026, 03:28 UTC; khou.com returned HTTP 403.","independence_group":"khou-ruiz-houston-attorney"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["justice","finance","privacy"],"unknowns":["When the impersonation began and when the woman's family paid; the report gives no dates.","Which AI tool altered the images; no image was examined by an investigator or the outlet.","How many of the more than 20 possible targets paid money, and the amounts beyond the one family's loss of about $11,000.","Where the interviewed woman and the impersonators are located, whether HPD's investigation has produced any finding, and whether any platform has removed the accounts."],"geography":{"basis":"The impersonated law office is in southwest Houston, Texas, and the attorney received the calls there; the attorney is the counted person located in the United States. The location of the scammers and of the interviewed woman is not stated (she was promised a permit to stay in the United States and her husband wanted her to be in the country), so her country is not recorded. No court is involved.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["US"],"affected_person_countries":["US"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a core case on a single attributed report: KHOU reports a Houston immigration attorney's account that her photographs were altered with artificial intelligence and used on social media to impersonate her office, and a separately interviewed woman's account that her family lost about $11,000 to the impersonators and that she found the images were AI-made. The attorney and the woman are distinct witnesses within one report; every claim is attributed to them, and dates, tool and the number of people who paid are recorded as unknown.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-08"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"KHOU reports the attorney's account that people stole her photographs, used artificial intelligence to alter the images so that they appeared connected to other people posing as attorneys, and used them on Facebook and Instagram to impersonate her office. The deceived woman separately told KHOU that she discovered the photo was fake and had been made with artificial intelligence and was connected to the Houston law office. The AI-altered images are the instrument of the impersonation: they depict the attorney (depicted_or_impersonated) and were presented to the woman and other people who paid the impersonators. The tool is not identified, no image has been examined by an investigator or the outlet, and both accounts are interviewees' statements.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["depicted_or_impersonated"]},"name":"Houston immigration attorney says scammers altered her photos with AI to pose as her office; a woman says her family lost about $11,000 (KHOU report)","summary":"KHOU reported on 7 October 2026 that a southwest Houston immigration attorney says people have been taking her photographs, altering them with artificial intelligence and using them on Facebook and Instagram to impersonate her office, with her image placed next to other people posing as attorneys. She says her firm has received calls from people who paid money to the impersonators and that she knows of more than 20 people who may have been targeted. One woman, interviewed by KHOU without her identity revealed, said her family lost about $11,000 after she was promised a permit to stay in the United States within a month and attended what the couple believed were meetings with immigration agents; she said she later discovered that the photo was fake and had been made with artificial intelligence. KHOU reports that people who say they lost money reported the alleged scheme to the Houston Police Department, which said the case will be assigned to an investigator; no arrest or platform response is reported, and the AI identification rests on the attorney's and the woman's accounts.","incidentKind":"ongoing_experience","incidentDatePrecision":"unknown","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2026-10-07","aiSystem":"Artificial intelligence used, according to the attorney and a deceived woman interviewed by KHOU, to alter the attorney's photographs so that they appeared connected to other people posing as attorneys (tool not identified)","aiProduct":"Unidentified image tool","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"unverified","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["financial_loss","reputational_harm","psychological_distress"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"According to the attorney and a woman interviewed by KHOU, AI-altered photographs of the attorney were used to pose as her office; the woman says her family lost about $11,000 after paying the impersonators and that she felt angry and helpless; the attorney says more than 20 people may have been targeted and that her name and images were used and that she fears people will believe she took their money.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":2,"affectedCountStatus":"partial","affectedCountEvidence":"Two people are counted: the attorney whose altered photographs were used to impersonate her office, and the interviewed woman whose family lost about $11,000. The attorney's 'more than 20 people' who 'may have been targeted' is a possible-target figure, not a count of harmed people, and the report's 'some losing thousands of dollars' is unquantified; those people are the unquantified remainder. The woman's husband, who paid the money, is not counted separately because the loss is reported as one family loss. Neither counted person is an AI user.","victimAgeRange":"unknown","jurisdiction":"US-TX","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"media_coverage","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/houston-attorney-says-scammers-stole-032837396.html","primarySourceLabel":"KHOU (Anayeli Ruiz) via Yahoo News, 7 October 2026: Houston attorney says people are using AI to impersonate her. More than 20 people may be victims","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-08T03:33:39.02292+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-08T03:33:39.02292+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["impersonation","ai-altered-images","immigration-scam","fraud","social-media","houston","texas","depicted-or-impersonated"]},{"id":"2026-uh-downtown-student-f-grade-over-alleged-ai-generated-coursework-overturned-on-appeal","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'the student submitted several journal entries and discussion posts that were determined to be copy and pasted AI generated'; 'is a senior studying business management at the University of Houston Downtown'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"A University of Houston-Downtown senior received an F in a music appreciation course after the professor claimed the student had submitted several journal entries and discussion posts determined to be copied and AI-generated.","causal_attribution":"The station's report, quoting the professor's stated reason. How the determination was made is not stated."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'The appeal process started with the professor who accused him in the first place'; 'Then he lost in the second phase with the department chair of the Arts and Communication Department'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The student's appeal was denied first by the professor and then by the chair of the Arts and Communication Department.","causal_attribution":"The station's report of the appeal stages."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'But the student discipline committee made up of four deans ruled in his favor'; 'decision was based on concerns regarding the reliability and consistency of the evidence used to support the original finding'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"A student discipline committee made up of four deans ruled in the student's favour, and the decision as quoted cites concerns about the reliability and consistency of the evidence used to support the original finding.","causal_attribution":"The station's quotation of the decision. The decision document was not published."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'To be honest, I was shocked. I was incredibly incensed'; 'This came as a huge relief'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The student said they were shocked and incredibly incensed by the grade and that the committee's ruling came as a huge relief.","causal_attribution":"Student's own statement to the station."}],"effects":[{"label":"failing course grade on a finding that journal entries and discussion posts were AI-generated; later overturned","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"},{"label":"shock and anger at the accusation (student statement)","claim_id":"c4","direction":"negative"},{"label":"committee of deans ruled in the student's favour","claim_id":"c3","direction":"positive"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.fox26houston.com/news/senior-uh-downtown-prevails-after-being-accused-handing-assignments-were-ai-generated","kind":"local_tv_news","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English: the article text in full. The video segment on the page was not viewed. The station says its reporter spoke with the student.","independence_group":"fox26-houston"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["unknown"],"contexts":["education"],"unknowns":["How the professor determined that the work was AI-generated, and whether an AI-detection tool was used.","The year of the grade: the report says 'last August' without a year.","The university's and the professor's accounts.","Whether the grade was changed after the committee's ruling and to what."],"geography":{"basis":"The course and the appeals were at the University of Houston-Downtown; the report is datelined Houston. The student's country of residence is not stated.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["US"],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a concrete account of a student penalised on a finding of AI use that a university committee later overturned, reported by a local television station from the student's interview and passages it quotes. No AI system's role in the finding is established, and the record says so. The student is not named in this record.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-05"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The professor's finding, as quoted by the station, was that the student's work was 'copy and pasted AI generated'. The student contested it and a committee overturned it over the reliability and consistency of the evidence. The report does not state how the finding was reached or whether an AI-detection tool was used, so no AI system's output about the student is established and the relation is recorded as unknown.","status":"suspected"},"person_relations":["unknown"]},"name":"A University of Houston-Downtown senior was given an F in a music appreciation course after the professor claimed journal entries and discussion posts were AI-generated; two appeals failed before a student discipline committee overturned the finding","summary":"FOX 26 Houston reported on 2 October 2026 that a senior studying business management at the University of Houston-Downtown received an F in a music appreciation course 'last August' after the professor claimed the student had submitted several journal entries and discussion posts 'determined to be copy and pasted AI generated'. The student appealed. The professor and then the department chair denied the appeal, and a student discipline committee of four deans ruled in the student's favour. The station quotes the decision as based on concerns about the reliability and consistency of the evidence used to support the original finding. The report does not say how the work was determined to be AI-generated or whether a detection tool was used. The student described being shocked and incensed by the grade and relieved by the outcome.","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"unknown","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2026-10-02","aiSystem":"No AI system is identified. The professor's finding was that the student's journal entries and discussion posts were AI-generated, which the student contested and a committee overturned; the report does not say whether an AI-detection tool produced or supported that finding","aiProduct":"Unidentified AI writing tool (suspected)","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"unverified","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["educational_harm","psychological_distress"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"A student received a failing course grade on a finding that coursework was AI-generated, lost two appeals and described shock and anger before a committee of deans overturned the finding, citing concerns about the reliability and consistency of the evidence (FOX 26 Houston report based on the student's account and the quoted decision).","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person: the student who received the failing grade and pursued the appeals. The student is counted under other people harmed because no use of AI by the student is established.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"US-TX","platformType":"other","outcomeStatus":"resolved","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.fox26houston.com/news/senior-uh-downtown-prevails-after-being-accused-handing-assignments-were-ai-generated","primarySourceLabel":"FOX 26 Houston, 2 October 2026: \"Senior at UH Downtown prevails after being accused of handing in assignments that were AI generated\"","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-05T03:19:52.006191+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-05T03:19:52.006191+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["ai-use-accusation","academic-integrity","education","appeal-upheld","texas","ai-involvement-suspected"]},{"id":"2025-houston-influencer-reports-alleged-ai-image-impersonation","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Article body: police allegation and reported admission with alternative methods.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The report describes police allegations of AI image fabrication, while the reported admission says AI or Photoshop.","causal_attribution":"The inspected reporting describes this account. Claims remain attributed and causation is alleged; multiple reports of the same victim or police/court account are one independence group."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Article body: victim's statement to the Harris County officer.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The influencer reportedly told an officer that the material caused fear, anxiety, humiliation, reputational damage and financial loss.","causal_attribution":"The inspected reporting describes this account. Claims remain attributed and causation is alleged; multiple reports of the same victim or police/court account are one independence group."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Article body: company statement and attorney response status.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The business said the accusations remained allegations and it was cooperating; the attorney did not respond.","causal_attribution":"The inspected reporting describes this account. Claims remain attributed and causation is alleged; multiple reports of the same victim or police/court account are one independence group."}],"effects":[{"label":"Reported sexual-image abuse, fear, reputational damage and unquantified financial loss","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/crime/2025/08/27/529622/houston-gun-store-co-owner-accused-of-using-ai-to-create-fake-pornographic-images-of-an-influencer/","kind":"journalistic","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"","independence_group":"original-account-aiid-1372"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["privacy","work"],"unknowns":["The first creation date and whether AI rather than conventional editing was used are unknown.","The exact loss and case outcome were not inspected."],"geography":{"basis":"The accused business, investigation and court setting are explicitly Houston/Harris County, Texas. The influencer's residence is not separately established.","court_countries":["US"],"event_countries":["US"],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"An inspected source describes a concrete person-level adverse experience connected to the specified AI use. Statements remain attributed, private identities are minimized, and unknown dates, counts and technical details are preserved.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-30"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"Police allege AI use, but the reported admission explicitly allows Photoshop as an alternative. AI involvement is suspected, not technically established.","status":"suspected"},"person_relations":["depicted_or_impersonated"]},"name":"Houston influencer reports fear, reputational damage and loss after fabricated sexual images","summary":"Houston Public Media reported police allegations that a gun-store co-owner created sexual images and fake social-media accounts impersonating an influencer. According to the reported court documents, she described fear, anxiety, humiliation, reputational damage and financial loss. The source says the accused described using “AI or Photoshop”, leaving the method unresolved. His business emphasised that the allegations were unproven. No conviction or loss amount is established.","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"unknown","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2025-08-27","aiSystem":"Suspected AI-assisted image fabrication","aiProduct":"Unidentified image tool (suspected)","aiCompany":"Unknown","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["exploitation_or_abuse","psychological_distress","reputational_harm","financial_loss"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"Reported sexual-image abuse, fear, reputational damage and unquantified financial loss","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"documented_minimum","affectedCountEvidence":"One influencer is the reported abuse target. Her loss amount and any additional targets are unknown.","victimAgeRange":"adult","platformType":"other","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/crime/2025/08/27/529622/houston-gun-store-co-owner-accused-of-using-ai-to-create-fake-pornographic-images-of-an-influencer/","primarySourceLabel":"Houston Public Media, 27 August 2025, police and court-document report","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-30T01:11:29.432427+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:24:50.704931+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":[]}]}