{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-10-09T07:56:09.669Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"scam-ads","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"","evidence":"","year":"2026","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":"2026-nigeria-deepfake-videos-of-public-figures-in-paid-facebook-investment-scam-ads-removed-after-newspaper-inquiry","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'In mid-April, a sponsored video appeared on the Nigeria Daily Report Facebook page.'; 'Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan’s figure in the video told viewers they could invest a one-off N430,000 to earn N14 million monthly'; 'But the senator didn’t make the video, and she had long disclaimed any endorsement of investment platforms before this video surfaced.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"In mid-April 2026 a sponsored video on the Facebook page Nigeria Daily Report showed a figure of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan telling viewers they could invest a one-off N430,000 to earn N14 million monthly; the senator did not make the video and had disclaimed endorsing investment platforms.","causal_attribution":"Premium Times's account of the sponsored video and the senator's prior disclaimers; the senator's quoted statement about a similar video a month earlier is her own description."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'The creators used deepfake technology to create a physical persona of the senator, then uploaded it. The creators also promoted the video to reach more Facebook users.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Premium Times states that the creators used deepfake technology to create a physical persona of the senator and paid to promote the video to more Facebook users.","causal_attribution":"The newspaper's own description of the video as a deepfake and a paid promotion; no forensic examination or platform finding on the method is cited."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'In May, a deepfake video appeared on the Facebook page Nigeria Daily Bulletin, showing the presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress, Peter Obi, asking social media users to invest N350,000 to earn N4.5 million.'; 'But the link in the video leads to a phoney website'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"In May 2026 a deepfake video on the Facebook page Nigeria Daily Bulletin showed presidential candidate Peter Obi asking users to invest N350,000 to earn N4.5 million, and its link led to a website cloning Channels Television.","causal_attribution":"The newspaper's own description of the video and the linked website."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'The video, which cloned her voice, introduced social media users to an investment scheme where users can invest N380,000 to earn N2,660,000 daily.'; 'But Mrs Okonjo-Iweala took to her X handle to warn Nigerians against the video and other investment platforms using AI and deepfakes to impersonate her.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"A Facebook video cloned the voice of WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to promote a scheme paying N2,660,000 daily on an N380,000 investment; she warned on X against videos using AI and deepfakes to impersonate her.","causal_attribution":"The newspaper's description of the video plus the depicted person's own warning; the date of this video is not stated."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Meta confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES that the ads and deepfake videos violated its policy. But these posts remained on the platform for months. They were only removed in July after this newspaper contacted the social media company, asking if they violated its policies.'; 'The post was only taken down in the first week of July, after PREMIUM TIMES contacted Meta, asking if the post violated its policies.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Meta confirmed to Premium Times that the ads and deepfake videos violated its policy; the posts remained on the platform for months and were removed in July 2026, one of them in the first week of July, after the newspaper contacted Meta.","causal_attribution":"Meta's emailed statement as relayed by the newspaper, and the newspaper's own observation of the posts' persistence and removal timing."},{"id":"c6","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'“It’s against our policies to run ads that deceptively use public figures to try to scam people, and we remove these ads when we detect them.”'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Meta says it is against its policies to run ads that deceptively use public figures to scam people and that it removes such ads when it detects them.","causal_attribution":"Meta's statement to the newspaper; retained as the company's position."}],"effects":[{"label":"deepfake video of a senator used in a sponsored Facebook post to promote a fraudulent investment scheme","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"},{"label":"deepfake video of a presidential candidate used on Facebook to promote a fraudulent investment scheme","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"},{"label":"voice-cloned deepfake video of the WTO Director-General used to promote an investment scheme","claim_id":"c4","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.premiumtimesng.com/features-and-interviews/915268-meta-policies-fail-as-scam-ads-deepfakes-impersonating-nigerian-public-figures-litter-facebook.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-09 on premiumtimesng.com (HTTP 200); no translation was involved and no human reviewer read the article. Feature by Qosim Suleiman dated 8 October 2026, published under the CJID Tech Justice and Platform Accountability Project.","independence_group":"premium-times-suleiman-deepfake-ads"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["finance","privacy","everyday_life"],"unknowns":["Whether anyone invested money after seeing these videos; no deceived person is identified and no loss is reported.","Which tool generated the videos and who created them or paid for the ads; the linked websites' registrants were hidden by a privacy service.","When the video of the WTO Director-General was posted and how long each video ran before removal.","Whether any police report, platform referral or regulatory complaint followed; none is reported."],"geography":{"basis":"Event: the sponsored posts ran on Nigerian-named Facebook pages, quoted investment amounts in naira and, in the newspaper's words, specifically targeted Nigerians; the newspaper also reports that Nigerian fact-checkers reviewed the videos. Affected persons: the senator represents Kogi Central in Nigeria's National Assembly and the presidential candidate stood in Nigeria; the WTO Director-General's location is not stated, so NG rests on the first two. No court is involved.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["NG"],"affected_person_countries":["NG"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a core case on a single attributed newspaper investigation: Premium Times describes deepfake videos, one voice-cloned, depicting three named Nigerian public figures endorsing fraudulent investment schemes in sponsored Facebook posts, reports the depicted people's disclaimers and Meta's confirmation that the posts violated its policy and were removed months later after the newspaper's inquiry. Every claim is attributed to the newspaper, the depicted people or Meta; the tool, the creators and any deceived investor are recorded as unknown.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-09"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"Premium Times states that the creators of the senator's video used deepfake technology to create a physical persona of the senator and that the video of the WTO Director-General cloned her voice, and it describes the presidential candidate's video as a deepfake. The generated videos depicted the three public figures speaking words they did not say (depicted_or_impersonated) and were the means by which sponsored posts promoted fraudulent investment schemes to Facebook users for months. The descriptions are the newspaper's own and the depicted people's; the tool is not identified and no forensic examination is described.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["depicted_or_impersonated"]},"name":"Premium Times reports deepfake videos of Nigerian public figures ran for months as paid Facebook investment-scam ads; Meta removed them after the paper asked","summary":"Premium Times reported on 8 October 2026 that deepfake videos of Nigerian public figures were used in sponsored Facebook posts to promote fraudulent investment schemes. According to the report, a sponsored video on the page Nigeria Daily Report in mid-April 2026 showed a figure of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan telling viewers they could invest a one-off N430,000 to earn N14 million monthly; the senator did not make the video and had disclaimed any endorsement of investment platforms. In May 2026 a deepfake video of presidential candidate Peter Obi on the page Nigeria Daily Bulletin asked users to invest N350,000 to earn N4.5 million, linking to a website that cloned Channels Television. Another video cloned the voice of WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to promote a scheme, and she warned on X against videos using AI and deepfakes to impersonate her. The newspaper reports that Meta confirmed the ads and videos violated its policy, that the posts stayed on the platform for months, and that they were removed in July 2026, one of them in the first week of July, after the newspaper contacted Meta. No deceived investor is identified, the tool and the creators are not identified, and the deepfake descriptions are the newspaper's and the depicted people's.","incidentDate":"2026-04-01","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2026-10-08","aiSystem":"Deepfake video generation, as described by Premium Times, used to create a speaking persona of a senator and videos of other public figures, in one case cloning the voice of the person depicted (tool not identified)","aiProduct":"Unidentified video tool","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["reputational_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"According to Premium Times, deepfake videos depicting a senator, a presidential candidate and the WTO Director-General endorsing fraudulent investment schemes ran as sponsored Facebook posts for months before Meta removed them; the senator and the Director-General publicly disclaimed the videos, and the senator described a similar video as fabricated content created to scam the public. No deceived investor is identified.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":3,"affectedCountStatus":"partial","affectedCountEvidence":"Three people are counted: the senator, the presidential candidate and the WTO Director-General, each depicted in a described deepfake video promoting a fraudulent investment scheme. The report names five further business leaders and journalists who 'have all featured in deepfakes' or 'have also been victims of these deepfakes' without event details, and says 'many prominent Nigerians' have been depicted; they are the unquantified remainder. 'Over a thousand users' who saw or liked the senator's video are an audience, not harmed people, and no deceived investor is described. None of the counted people used the AI.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"NG","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"media_coverage","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.premiumtimesng.com/features-and-interviews/915268-meta-policies-fail-as-scam-ads-deepfakes-impersonating-nigerian-public-figures-litter-facebook.html","primarySourceLabel":"Premium Times (Qosim Suleiman), 8 October 2026: Meta policies fail as scam ads, deepfakes impersonating Nigerian public figures litter Facebook","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-09T03:29:08.553618+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-09T03:29:08.553618+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["deepfake","impersonation","scam-ads","investment-fraud","facebook","meta","voice-cloning","nigeria","public-figures","depicted-or-impersonated"]}]}