{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-11-02T08:06:50.439Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"phone-scam","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"core","evidence":"","year":"","response":"regulatory","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":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":"2025-rome-carabinieri-say-fraud-suspects-used-ai-to-clone-relatives-voices-in-calls-to-mostly-older-victims","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"44 persone, presunte responsabili di 39 episodi di truffe riuscite o tentate tra il novembre 2025 e maggio 2026.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"I Carabinieri della compagnia di Roma centro hanno individuato i presunti responsabili di ben 39 episodi di questo tipo, denunciando 44 persone.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"The Carabinieri of the Compagnia Roma Centro reported 44 people to the judicial authorities as the presumed perpetrators of 39 completed or attempted frauds committed between November 2025 and May 2026.","causal_attribution":"Several outlets relaying one Carabinieri statement; one origin, so reported."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"L’attività investigativa dei Carabinieri della Compagnia Roma Centro ha permesso inoltre di ricostruire il modus operandi degli indagati: dal falso contatto, con i truffatori che inviavano sms o telefonavano alle vittime spacciandosi per operatori bancari o appartenenti alle forze dell’ordine, all’uso della tecnologia, con l’utilizzo per l’appunto dello “spoofing” telefonico per camuffare il numero del chiamante e di software di intelligenza artificiale per clonare la voce di parenti","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"},{"locator":"oppure utilizzavano software di intelligenza artificiale non solo per camuffare il numero del chiamante ma anche per clonare la voce di parenti.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"Oppure camuffavano il numero di chi chiamava o veniva utilizzato il software di intelligenza artificiale per clonare la voce di parenti.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"According to the modus operandi reconstructed by the Carabinieri, the fraudsters used artificial-intelligence software to clone the voices of the victims' relatives, alongside spoofed caller numbers and calls posing as bank staff or police.","causal_attribution":"The investigating Carabinieri's attribution, relayed by four outlets from one statement; no tool, recording or technical basis is disclosed."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Costante il ricorso alla pressione psicologica, alimentando inesistenti pericoli per i risparmi o fingendo incidenti stradali occorsi a figli o nipoti. L'obiettivo era sempre lo stesso: indurre le vittime a eseguire bonifici urgenti o ricariche su carte di pagamento intestate ai complici.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"I malcapitati, così, venivano indotti a eseguire bonifici urgenti o ricariche su carte di pagamento intestate ai complici.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The fraudsters invented dangers to the victims' savings or road accidents involving children or grandchildren and induced victims to make urgent bank transfers or top up payment cards held by accomplices.","causal_attribution":"The Carabinieri's description of the scheme as relayed; no individual victim's account is reported."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"quasi tutte romane, in prevalenza anziani","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Le vittime, non solo anziani, ingannate con la tecnica delle finte telefonate e degli sms","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"RomaToday describes the victims as almost all Roman residents, mostly older people; Il Messaggero writes that the victims were not only older people.","causal_attribution":"Two outlets' characterisations of the same victim group; they differ in emphasis."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Oltre ai denunciati, i carabinieri sono riusciti a recuperare parte della refurtiva sottratta, composta da denaro in contanti, oro e gioielli per un valore che si stima superiore a 900 mila euro. Il totale del bottino messo insieme dal gruppo nel corso dei messi sarebbe più alto, contando anche i bonifici eseguiti dalle povere vittime, convinte di aiutare una persona cara.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"I Carabinieri hanno recuperato parte della refurtiva: oro, gioielli e contanti, per un valore stimato di oltre 900 mila euro.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"The Carabinieri recovered cash, gold and jewellery estimated at over 900,000 euros; Fanpage writes that the total taken was higher once victims' bank transfers are counted.","causal_attribution":"Carabinieri figure as relayed; an estimate of recovered property, not a count of losses."},{"id":"c6","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Le indagini dei carabinieri sono scaturite dalle denunce delle vittime, che hanno di fatto consentito di incrociare accertamenti bancari su carte e conti correnti e di eseguire una serie di analisi di tabulati telefonici, di immagini delle telecamere di videosorveglianza, di banche dati e profili social media.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The investigation began from victims' complaints and used bank checks, phone records, video-surveillance images, databases and social media profiles.","causal_attribution":"Carabinieri account as relayed; it does not say which of these checks established the AI voice cloning."},{"id":"c7","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Casi diversi e diverse le bande ma tutte accomunate dalla provenienza geografia poiché i 44 indagati sono tutti originari della Campania","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"Il Messaggero reports that the cases involved different groups and that all 44 suspects come from Campania.","causal_attribution":"One outlet's report; Fanpage describes a single network, so the structure of the groups is unresolved."}],"effects":[{"label":"money transferred or handed over after calls using spoofed numbers and, the investigators say, AI-cloned voices of relatives","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.romatoday.it/cronaca/truffa-online-roma-spoofing-intelligenza-artificiale.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"it","translation_note":"Read in Italian on 2026-11-02; translated by the research agent (an AI). RomaToday, 3 June 2026, relaying the Carabinieri account ('Secondo quanto riferito dai militari'); HTTP 200.","independence_group":"carabinieri-roma-centro-statement-jun-2026"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.fanpage.it/roma/clonavano-le-voci-dei-parenti-con-lia-per-estorcere-denaro-scoperta-truffa-da-un-milione-di-euro/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"it","translation_note":"Read in Italian on 2026-11-02 through a Wayback Machine capture (the live page returned HTTP 403); translated by the research agent (an AI). Fanpage, 3 June 2026; same Carabinieri origin as s1.","independence_group":"carabinieri-roma-centro-statement-jun-2026"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.rainews.it/tgr/lazio/articoli/2026/06/truffe-digitali-44-denunce-e-900-mila-euro-recuperati-6cb0e87f-493c-43d0-a048-b0994c073b46.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"it","translation_note":"Read in Italian on 2026-11-02; translated by the research agent (an AI). RaiNews TGR Lazio, 4 June 2026; same Carabinieri origin as s1; HTTP 200.","independence_group":"carabinieri-roma-centro-statement-jun-2026"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://www.ilmessaggero.it/roma/metropoli/roma_truffe_digitali_carabinieri_recuperano_un_milione-9571542.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"it","translation_note":"Read in Italian on 2026-11-02; translated by the research agent (an AI). Il Messaggero, 4 June 2026; same Carabinieri origin as s1; HTTP 200.","independence_group":"carabinieri-roma-centro-statement-jun-2026"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["finance","everyday_life"],"unknowns":["How many of the 39 completed or attempted frauds used a cloned voice, and how many people lost money","How the investigators established that the voices were AI-generated, and which software was used","Whether prosecutors brought charges and whether any case has reached court","Whether the 44 suspects formed one network or several groups (Fanpage and Il Messaggero differ)"],"geography":{"basis":"Event and affected people: the Carabinieri of the Compagnia Roma Centro investigated frauds against victims who were almost all Roman residents (s1, s4). No court proceeding is reported.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["IT"],"affected_person_countries":["IT"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a reported police operation: the Rome Carabinieri, who investigated victims' complaints, say fraudsters used AI software to clone relatives' voices in calls that induced mostly older victims to transfer money, in 39 completed or attempted frauds between November 2025 and May 2026; the technical basis is undisclosed and no individual victim is described.","reviewed_on":"2026-11-02"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The Carabinieri of the Compagnia Roma Centro, who investigated the 39 frauds using victims' complaints, bank checks and phone records, reconstructed a modus operandi in which the fraudsters used artificial-intelligence software to clone the voices of the victims' relatives (s1, s3, s4; Fanpage s2 adds that the programs let the suspects disguise their own voices as those relatives). The cloned voices impersonated relatives toward the people called and were part of what induced them to make urgent transfers or top up payment cards (s1, s3). This is an attribution by the investigating Carabinieri, relayed by four outlets from one statement; no tool, recording or forensic analysis is disclosed, and the number of cases in which a cloned voice was used is not stated.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["depicted_or_impersonated"]},"name":"Rome Carabinieri say phone fraud suspects used AI software to clone relatives' voices in calls that took money from mostly older residents","summary":"The Carabinieri of the Compagnia Roma Centro announced on 3 June 2026 that they had reported 44 people to the judicial authorities as the alleged perpetrators of 39 completed or attempted phone frauds committed between November 2025 and May 2026. According to the Carabinieri account relayed by RomaToday, Fanpage, RaiNews and Il Messaggero, the fraudsters posed as bank staff or police, faked the caller number shown on the victim's phone (spoofing) and used artificial-intelligence software to clone the voices of the victims' relatives, then invented threats to savings or road accidents involving children or grandchildren so that victims made urgent bank transfers or topped up payment cards held by accomplices. The victims were mostly older residents of Rome. The Carabinieri recovered money, gold and jewellery estimated at over 900,000 euros. The outlets do not describe an individual victim, do not say how many of the 39 cases involved a cloned voice, and do not say how the investigators established that the voices were AI-generated.","incidentDate":"2025-11-01","incidentEndDate":"2026-05-31","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2026-06-03","aiSystem":"Artificial-intelligence software that the Carabinieri say the fraudsters used to clone the voices of victims' relatives in phone calls; no tool is named","aiProduct":"Unidentified voice-cloning tool","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["financial_loss"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"According to the Carabinieri, victims, mostly older Rome residents, were induced to make urgent transfers or top up payment cards in 39 completed or attempted frauds that used spoofed numbers and, the investigators say, AI-cloned voices of relatives; property worth over 900,000 euros was recovered.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"unquantified","affectedCountEvidence":"The Carabinieri count 39 frauds, completed or attempted ('39 episodi di truffe riuscite o tentate', Fanpage); attempted frauds need not have harmed anyone, victims are not counted individually and the share of cases in which a cloned voice was used is not stated, so the people harmed are unquantified (numeric zero placeholders). The 44 reported suspects and the value recovered are not counts of harmed people.","victimAgeRange":"unknown","jurisdiction":"IT","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"investigation_opened","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.romatoday.it/cronaca/truffa-online-roma-spoofing-intelligenza-artificiale.html","primarySourceLabel":"RomaToday, 3 June 2026: Rome, voices cloned with artificial intelligence; 900,000-euro fraud that emptied accounts","firstPublishedAt":"2026-11-02T03:06:33.425159+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-11-02T03:06:33.425159+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["voice-cloning","impersonation","fraud","phone-scam","older-people","italy"]}]}