{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-10-14T13:08:48.424Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"signal","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"","evidence":"","year":"","response":"","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":3,"coverage":{"cases":3,"countries":0,"languages":2,"unknownLocation":3,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":0,"lawsuits":0,"regulatory":1,"minors":0,"coreRelations":2,"contextualRelations":1,"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-us-state-department-cable-says-impostor-used-ai-voice-and-text-messages-to-pose-as-secretary-of-state","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'an impostor posing as Rubio had attempted to reach out to at least three foreign ministers, a U.S. senator and a governor, according to the July 3 cable'; 'which were sent by text, Signal and voice mail'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'left voicemails on Signal for at least two targeted individuals'; 'three foreign ministers, a US governor and a member of Congress'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"A State Department cable dated 3 July 2025 said an impostor posing as the Secretary of State had attempted to reach at least three foreign ministers, a US governor and a member of Congress by text, Signal and voicemail, leaving Signal voicemails for at least two of them.","causal_attribution":"The cable as reported by AP and the Guardian (one origin); the two accounts differ on whether the legislator was a senator or a member of Congress."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'using technology driven by artificial intelligence, according to two senior officials and a cable sent last week to all embassies and consulates'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'the impostor sent fake voice messages and texts that mimicked'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"According to AP, two senior officials and the cable described the impersonation attempts as using technology driven by artificial intelligence; the Guardian reports that the messages mimicked the Secretary of State's voice and writing style.","causal_attribution":"The State Department's attribution as relayed by AP and the Guardian; its technical basis is not disclosed."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'The hoaxes involving Rubio had been unsuccessful and \"not very sophisticated,\" one of the officials said'; 'advise all employees and foreign governments'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'is currently investigating the matter'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The department said it was investigating, sent the cable to all embassies and consulates and advised all employees and foreign governments; one official said the attempts had been unsuccessful and not very sophisticated.","causal_attribution":"Statements by department officials as reported by AP and the Guardian."}],"effects":[{"label":"the Secretary of State's identity was used in AI voice and text messages to senior officials, prompting a department investigation and warnings","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.npr.org/2025/07/09/nx-s1-5462195/impostor-ai-impersonate-rubio-foreign-officials","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in full in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-14 (HTTP 200). NPR's copy of an Associated Press report; AP had a copy of the cable and spoke to two senior officials.","independence_group":"state-department-cable-3-july-2025"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/08/marco-rubio-ai-impostor","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in full in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-14 (HTTP 200). The Guardian says it confirmed the cable first reported by The Washington Post; same origin as the AP report.","independence_group":"state-department-cable-3-july-2025"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["work","public_services"],"unknowns":["Who sent the messages and which AI tool was used.","How the department established that AI was used.","Whether any recipient replied or shared information; the Guardian subheading and an AP-quoted official differ."],"geography":{"basis":"The cable was sent by the US State Department, and the recipients included foreign ministers and US officials whose locations are not stated; where the messages were sent from or received is not stated, so no event country is recorded. No affected-person country is inferred from the official's office.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published because AP and the Guardian report a State Department cable and officials stating that an impostor used AI-driven voice and text messages to pose as the Secretary of State to senior officials, and that the department investigated and warned all posts and foreign governments.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-14"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"AP reports that two senior State Department officials and the department's 3 July 2025 cable described the attempts to impersonate the Secretary of State as using technology driven by artificial intelligence, and the Guardian reports from the cable that the voice messages and texts mimicked his voice and writing style. The department, which was investigating the incident and whose cable describes the account's creation in mid-June and the Signal voicemails left for at least two targets, is the party making the attribution; it is the impersonated Secretary of State's own department. The AI-generated messages impersonated the Secretary of State toward senior officials, which led to the investigation and the warnings to all posts and foreign governments. The technical basis for the AI attribution is not disclosed in the sources read, and no tool is identified.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["depicted_or_impersonated"]},"name":"State Department cable says an impostor used AI voice and text messages to pose as Secretary of State Marco Rubio to foreign ministers and US officials","summary":"A State Department cable dated 3 July 2025, sent to all US embassies and consulates and reported by The Washington Post, AP and The Guardian, said an impostor posing as Secretary of State Marco Rubio had contacted at least five senior officials, including three foreign ministers and a US governor, by text, Signal and voicemail, with the aim of gaining access to information or accounts. According to AP, two senior officials and the cable described the attempts as using technology driven by artificial intelligence; the Guardian reports that the messages mimicked Rubio's voice and writing style. The department said it was investigating and advised all employees and foreign governments. One official told AP the attempts had been unsuccessful; the technical basis for the AI description was not disclosed.","incidentDate":"2025-06-01","incidentEndDate":"2025-07-03","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2025-07-08","aiSystem":"AI technology used to send voice and text messages imitating the Secretary of State, as described by State Department officials and a department cable; no tool is identified","aiProduct":"Unidentified voice-cloning tool","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["reputational_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"According to a State Department cable and officials quoted by AP and the Guardian, an impostor used AI voice and text messages in the Secretary of State's name to contact senior officials, and the department opened an investigation and warned all diplomatic posts and foreign governments. No recipient is reported to have been deceived.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person: the Secretary of State, whose identity was used and whose department responded with an investigation and warnings. The at least five officials who received messages are not counted, because no adverse consequence is reported for them (an official said the attempts were unsuccessful).","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"US","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"investigation_opened","outcomeStatus":"unknown","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.npr.org/2025/07/09/nx-s1-5462195/impostor-ai-impersonate-rubio-foreign-officials","primarySourceLabel":"NPR (Associated Press), 9 July 2025: Impostor uses AI to impersonate Rubio and contact foreign and U.S. officials","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-14T03:03:37.670188+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-14T03:03:37.670188+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["united-states","state-department","signal","voicemail","impersonation","voice-cloning","public-official"]},{"id":"2026-chatgpt-adult-subscriber-says-account-classified-as-teen-and-restricted-first-person","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Then age verification rolled out and I got classified as a teen account, no kidding, on my 36 th birthday.' ... 'But not when I got put on a restricted account, go figure.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster, who says they are 36, says that when OpenAI's age checks rolled out their ChatGPT account was classified as a teen account and was put on a restricted account.","causal_attribution":"The poster's own account, uncorroborated, so reported."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'After I had already emailed them about non-ID/photo options to verify like your credit card if I should get hit by this. They just sent me a canned answer about how great Persona is and when I escalated it to data protection, they basically said that I had to be profiled first'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster says they had earlier emailed OpenAI asking for verification options without ID or a photo, received a canned reply about Persona, and on escalating to data protection was told they had to be profiled first.","causal_attribution":"The poster's own account of correspondence that is not published, so reported."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'So I cancelled my subscription'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster cancelled their ChatGPT subscription after the classification.","causal_attribution":"The poster's own statement; the connection to the classification is the poster's sequence of events."},{"id":"c4","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'If ChatGPT predicts that an account may belong to someone under 18 and the account is eligible, ChatGPT automatically enables the ChatGPT for Teens experience.' ... 'ChatGPT uses an age prediction system. It looks at different signals linked to your account.' ... 'No system is perfect. Sometimes ChatGPT may get it wrong.' ... 'If you are 18 or older and were placed in the ChatGPT for Teens experience by mistake, you can verify your age.' ... 'Your account stays active, and you can still use ChatGPT to learn, create, and ask questions.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"OpenAI's Help Center says ChatGPT uses an age prediction system that reads account signals, automatically enables the ChatGPT for Teens experience when it predicts an account may belong to someone under 18, can get this wrong, and lets adults placed there by mistake verify their age; it says the account stays active.","causal_attribution":"Directly established by OpenAI's own published page as a description of the system; it does not establish what happened to this account."}],"effects":[{"label":"An adult subscriber's ChatGPT account was classified as a teen account and restricted, according to the poster","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.reddit.com/r/ChatGPTcomplaints/comments/1x2x24z/done_with_chatgpt_and_what_i_realized_after/","kind":"forum_post","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"English post read in full from the subreddit's Atom feed and the post's own comment feed (HTTP 200 each, 11 Oct 2026); the comment feed held only the post, with no replies. The URL carries no username; the poster's handle is not recorded.","independence_group":"reddit-poster-1x2x24z"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260924151959/https://help.openai.com/en/articles/12652064-age-prediction-in-chatgpt","kind":"official_statement","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"English Help Center page read through a Wayback Machine capture of 24 September 2026 (the live page answered HTTP 403 to the fetcher); the page describes the system in general and does not mention this poster.","independence_group":"openai-help-center"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["institutional_use"],"contexts":["everyday_life","privacy"],"unknowns":["When the classification happened. The post gives no date; it describes about six months of heavy use before the post of 11 October 2026 and places the classification after the poster subscribed, so the record uses that six-month window.","Which mechanism classified the account (OpenAI's behaviour-based age prediction or another check); the poster calls it age verification and had not verified.","Which restrictions applied to the account, and whether the poster attempted the verification route OpenAI describes.","Whether OpenAI has reviewed or reversed the classification."],"geography":{"basis":"The post does not say where the poster lives or uses ChatGPT; the mention of a data-protection escalation does not establish a country. No court is involved.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published under the public-forum rule as a concrete first-person account: an adult says ChatGPT classified their account as a teen account and restricted it, that a data-protection escalation was met with a requirement to be profiled first, and that they cancelled the subscription. OpenAI's Help Center documents the age prediction system that makes such classifications. The account is uncorroborated and attributed to the poster; the handle is not recorded.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-11"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The poster says that when OpenAI's age checks rolled out, their account was classified as a teen account and put on a restricted account; the post describes asking OpenAI about verification options in advance and does not mention completing a verification. OpenAI's Help Center says ChatGPT may use the age associated with an account, a verified age or age prediction to decide whether the account gets the teen experience, and that its age prediction system reads signals linked to the account and can get this wrong. The post does not name the mechanism. The poster gives their age as 36 and describes no verification, so of the paths OpenAI lists, age prediction is the one that fits the poster's account; this is an inference from OpenAI's page, not a statement in the post. That classification is the system's decision about the poster (made_decision_about), and the restricted account and the cancelled subscription are the consequences the poster reports. The classification rests on the poster's account alone, which does not name the mechanism beyond age verification, so the status is reported.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["made_decision_about"]},"name":"Adult ChatGPT Plus subscriber says the account was classified as a teen and restricted, and that OpenAI said profiling had to come first; first-person post","summary":"In a Reddit post of 11 October 2026, a ChatGPT Plus subscriber who says they are an adult (36, by the post's own account) writes that when OpenAI's age checks rolled out their account was classified as a teen account and put on a restricted account. The poster says they had earlier emailed OpenAI asking for verification options without ID or a photo, received a canned reply about the verification provider Persona, and on escalating to data protection was told they had to be profiled first. The poster says they then cancelled the subscription. OpenAI's Help Center says ChatGPT uses an age prediction system that reads account signals, automatically enables the teen experience when it predicts an account may belong to someone under 18, can get this wrong, and lets adults verify their age to remove it. The account is the poster's own and is not corroborated.","incidentDate":"2026-04-11","incidentEndDate":"2026-10-11","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"range","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2026-10-11","aiSystem":"ChatGPT's age check that placed the account in the ChatGPT for Teens experience, which the poster calls age verification; OpenAI says such placements use an account's associated or verified age or an age prediction system that reads account signals","aiProduct":"ChatGPT","aiCompany":"OpenAI","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"unverified","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["other_material_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"According to the poster's own account, ChatGPT classified their adult account as a teen account and restricted it, OpenAI answered a data-protection escalation by saying the poster had to be profiled first, and the poster cancelled the paid subscription.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person, the poster, whose own account was classified and restricted. Other users mentioned in general terms are not counted.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"unknown","platformType":"chatbot","outcomeStatus":"unknown","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.reddit.com/r/ChatGPTcomplaints/comments/1x2x24z/done_with_chatgpt_and_what_i_realized_after/","primarySourceLabel":"Reddit r/ChatGPTcomplaints, 11 Oct 2026: first-person post, adult subscriber classified as a teen account","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-11T03:15:35.440619+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-11T03:15:35.440619+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["first-person","reddit","chatgpt","age-prediction","teen-account","account-restriction","persona"]},{"id":"2026-hirosaki-police-ai-generated-celebrity-investment-video-man-lost-720000-yen","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'弘前署は8日、青森県内在住の40代男性が、人工知能（AI）で生成された実在する著名人が投資を勧める動画を介し、現金72万円をだまし取られる特殊詐欺被害に遭ったと発表した。'; '男性は7月中旬ごろ、TikTok（ティックトック）の著名人をかたる投資広告からLINE（ライン）、メッセージアプリ「Signal」（シグナル）のグループへと誘導され、教えられた優良株を購入したところ、実際に利益を得た。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'弘前署は8日、青森県内在住の40代男性が、人工知能（AI）で生成された実在する著名人が投資を勧める動画を介し、現金72万円をだまし取られる特殊詐欺被害に遭ったと発表した。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Hirosaki police announced on 8 October 2026 that a man in his 40s living in Aomori Prefecture had been defrauded through a video, generated with AI, of a real celebrity recommending investment; in about mid-July he was led from a TikTok investment advertisement impersonating a celebrity into LINE and Signal groups.","causal_attribution":"The police announcement as reported by Too Nippo and relayed by 47NEWS: one origin. How the police established that the video was AI-generated is not stated."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'「AIが利益の出る株を自動的に購入し、売却は自分で行う投資アプリをインストールして入金すれば、利益を得ることができる」と提案された'; 'コンビニエンスストアATMから指定された口座へ現金計72万円を振り込んだ。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"After a LINE account proposed an investment app in which AI would buy shares automatically, the man transferred a total of ¥720,000 from a convenience-store ATM to a designated account.","causal_attribution":"The police account as reported by Too Nippo; the app's AI claim is the fraudsters' pitch."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'その後、アプリ上で保有資産を超える金額の株式を勝手に購入され、不足額の支払いも求められたことから、AIに質問したところ詐欺の可能性を指摘され、被害に気付いた。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"When the app bought shares beyond his holdings and demanded payment of the shortfall, he asked an AI, which pointed out the possibility of fraud, and he realised he had been defrauded.","causal_attribution":"The police account as reported by Too Nippo; the AI consulted is not named."}],"effects":[{"label":"drawn into an investment fraud by a TikTok advertisement using an AI-generated video of a real celebrity","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"},{"label":"transferred ¥720,000 to an account designated by the fraudsters","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"},{"label":"an AI he consulted pointed out that the scheme might be fraud, after which he realised the loss","claim_id":"c3","direction":"positive"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.toonippo.co.jp/articles/-/2379686","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"ja","translation_note":"Read in the original Japanese on 2026-10-11 (HTTP 200) by the research agent (an AI); English renderings in this record are the research agent's own translations and no human translator reviewed them. Too Nippo newsroom report of the Hirosaki police announcement; full article text inspected.","independence_group":"too-nippo-hirosaki-police"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.47news.jp/15059059.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"ja","translation_note":"Read in the original Japanese on 2026-10-11 (HTTP 200) by the research agent (an AI); English renderings in this record are the research agent's own translations and no human translator reviewed them. 47NEWS page credited to Too Nippo carrying the same lede and a truncated extract; same group as s1.","independence_group":"too-nippo-hirosaki-police"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["finance","everyday_life"],"unknowns":["The celebrity depicted in the video and the tool used to generate it","How the police established that the video was AI-generated","The year of the mid-July contact, which the report does not print (taken from its 9 October 2026 dateline)","Where he viewed the advertisement and made the transfer","Whether any perpetrator has been identified or any money recovered","Which AI he consulted when he realised the fraud"],"geography":{"basis":"Affected person: Too Nippo describes him as living in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. Event: the report does not say where he viewed the advertisement or made the ATM transfer, so no event country is recorded from his residence; the case was announced by Hirosaki police. No court is involved.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":["JP"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a reported case: Hirosaki police, as reported by Too Nippo, describe a concrete loss of ¥720,000 by one adult man and say the fraud reached him through an AI-generated video of a real celebrity recommending investment, used in a TikTok advertisement that led him into the scheme. The AI description is attributed to the police; the celebrity, the tool and the perpetrators are unknown. The man is described only by age band and prefecture.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-11"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"Too Nippo reports Hirosaki police as saying the man was defrauded of ¥720,000 through a video, generated with artificial intelligence, of a real celebrity recommending investment ('人工知能（AI）で生成された実在する著名人が投資を勧める動画を介し'), and that he was led from a TikTok investment advertisement impersonating a celebrity into the LINE and Signal groups where the fraud proceeded. The AI-generated video impersonated a celebrity toward him (depicted_or_impersonated) and was his route into the scheme in which he paid. The AI description is the police's as reported; the tool, the celebrity and the basis for the police description are not stated. The scheme's 'AI trading app' is a fraud pitch and is not relied on.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["depicted_or_impersonated"]},"name":"Hirosaki police (Aomori, Japan) say a man in his 40s lost ¥720,000 to an investment fraud that reached him through an AI-generated celebrity video","summary":"Hirosaki police in Aomori Prefecture, Japan, announced on 8 October 2026 that a man in his 40s living in the prefecture had been defrauded of ¥720,000 through a video, generated with artificial intelligence, of a real celebrity recommending investment, as reported by the Too Nippo newspaper. According to the police account, in about mid-July he followed a TikTok investment advertisement that impersonated a celebrity into LINE and Signal groups, made an initial profit on recommended shares, and then, at the suggestion of a LINE account, installed an investment app and transferred ¥720,000 from a convenience-store ATM to a designated account. When the app bought shares beyond his holdings and demanded the shortfall, he asked an AI, which pointed out that it might be fraud, and he realised he had been deceived. The celebrity and the tool used to make the video are not named.","incidentDate":"2026-07-01","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2026-10-08","aiSystem":"An AI-generated video of a real celebrity recommending investment, used in a TikTok investment advertisement, as described by Hirosaki police (tool not identified)","aiProduct":"Unidentified video tool","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["financial_loss"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"According to Hirosaki police as reported by Too Nippo, a man in his 40s was drawn by a TikTok advertisement using an AI-generated video of a real celebrity recommending investment into a fraudulent investment scheme and transferred ¥720,000 to the fraudsters.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person: the man in his 40s described by Hirosaki police, who was deceived through the video and paid ¥720,000. No other victim is described. He did not use the tool that generated the video; the AI he later consulted is context and is not counted as the harmful system.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"JP","platformType":"other","outcomeStatus":"unknown","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.toonippo.co.jp/articles/-/2379686","primarySourceLabel":"Too Nippo (Web Too), 9 October 2026: investment lure by video, man in his 40s defrauded of ¥720,000, Hirosaki police announce","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-11T03:10:16.883268+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-11T03:10:16.883268+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["deepfake","investment-scam","celebrity-impersonation","tiktok","line","japan","aomori","depicted-or-impersonated"]}]}