{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-10-21T06:55:53.863Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"task-scam","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"","evidence":"","year":"2025","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":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-karnataka-police-say-ai-generated-trump-video-promoted-trump-hotel-rental-investment-app-lawyer-lost-savings","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'allegedly lured him into investing in a Trump Hotel rentals scheme using an AI-generated video of US President Donald Trump promising high returns, police said on Monday'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'The police said cybercriminals used the AI-generated video of Donald Trump to dupe people in Bengaluru, Tumakuru, Mangaluru, and Haveri.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Police said the cybercriminals used an AI-generated video of Donald Trump to draw people into a fake 'Trump Hotel Rentals' investment scheme run through a mobile app.","causal_attribution":"Attributed to police by two outlets; the technical basis is not stated, and the police release PTI quotes does not mention AI."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'he came across a video on YouTube offering an investment opportunity in \"Donald Trump Hotel Rentals.\"'; 'When he clicked the link, he was directed to download a mobile application.'; 'he deposited Rs 5,93,240 to various bank accounts, UPI IDs, and digital wallets between January 25 and April 4.'; 'However, he stopped receiving returns and was unable to recover the invested amount.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'claimed he deposited Rs 5,93,240 between January 25 and April 4 this year'; 'In January this year, I came across shorts on YouTube that offered to invest in the Donald Trump Hotel.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"A lawyer saw YouTube videos offering investment in 'Donald Trump Hotel Rentals' in January 2025, downloaded the app and deposited Rs 5,93,240 between 25 January and 4 April 2025, and could not recover it.","causal_attribution":"The lawyer's own account, given in his complaint as relayed by police to PTI and in his interview with the Indian Express: one witness, so reported; whether the clips he saw contained the AI-generated video rests on the police attribution."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'A case has been registered under the IT Act and Section 318(4) (cheating) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, police said.'; 'Rs 1.5 lakh in the bank account to which the money was transferred has been frozen, a senior police officer said.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Police registered a case under the IT Act and the cheating provision of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and froze Rs 1.5 lakh in the receiving account.","causal_attribution":"Police statements reported by PTI."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'More than 200 investors from Karnataka have complained to cybercops that they were collectively defrauded of nearly Rs 2 crore'; 'A total of 15 cases have been registered in Haveri district.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'has been used to dupe more than 200 people in the last few months in several cities of Karnataka'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"More than 200 investors in Karnataka complained to cyber police of losing nearly Rs 2 crore through the app, with cases registered in several districts, 15 of them in Haveri.","causal_attribution":"Police figures relayed by both outlets; one underlying origin. Whether each complainant saw the AI-generated video is not established."}],"effects":[{"label":"lawyer lost Rs 5,93,240 deposited into the fake app after the video","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.theweek.in/wire-updates/national/2025/05/26/mes19-ka-cyber-fraud.html","kind":"wire_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"PTI copy republished by The Week; the live page returned 403, so a 2025 Internet Archive capture was read in full in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-21. No translation was needed.","independence_group":"pti-haveri-police"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/bangalore/ai-generated-trump-video-dupe-people-karnataka-10029617/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"The live page returned 403; a 2025 Internet Archive capture was read in full in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-21. Includes the Indian Express's own interview with the lawyer. No translation was needed.","independence_group":"indian-express-karnataka"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/trump-app-over-200-in-karnataka-fall-prey-to-investment-fraud-lose-rs-2-crore/articleshow/121428182.cms","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-21 (HTTP 200). Own reporting with a police inspector's quotes. No translation was needed.","independence_group":"times-of-india-bengaluru"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["finance"],"unknowns":["How the police established that the Trump video was AI-generated, and which tool made it.","How many of the more than 200 complainants saw the video before investing.","Whether anyone has been arrested or any money returned beyond the Rs 1.5 lakh frozen."],"geography":{"basis":"Police in Karnataka, India, registered the cases, including the lawyer's complaint, and the reports place the victims in Karnataka districts.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["IN"],"affected_person_countries":["IN"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published because investigating police, as reported separately by PTI and the Indian Express, attributed the scheme's promotion to an AI-generated Trump video, and a lawyer's loss of Rs 5,93,240 after seeing such videos is reported from both his police complaint and his own interview. The police attribution's technical basis is undisclosed.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-21"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"Investigating police, as reported separately by PTI and the Indian Express, said the scheme used an AI-generated video of Donald Trump to dupe people into the scheme; the lawyer says he saw such YouTube shorts and then installed the app and deposited his money (depicted_or_impersonated: the generated video impersonated Trump toward the people it deceived). The technical basis for the police attribution is not disclosed, and the police release quoted by PTI mentions only fake links. No generation tool is identified.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["depicted_or_impersonated"]},"name":"Karnataka police say an AI-generated Trump video promoted a fake 'Trump Hotel Rental' investment app; a lawyer lost about Rs 5.9 lakh","summary":"Police in Karnataka, India, said in May 2025 that cybercriminals used an AI-generated video of US President Donald Trump to draw people into a fake 'Trump Hotel Rentals' investment scheme run through a mobile app. A lawyer told police and the Indian Express that in January 2025 he saw short YouTube videos offering investment in Donald Trump hotels, downloaded the app, and deposited Rs 5,93,240 between 25 January and 4 April 2025 after small early payouts, then could not withdraw anything. Police registered a case under the IT Act and the cheating provision of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and froze Rs 1.5 lakh in a recipient account. Reports describe more than 200 complaints across Karnataka districts with losses near Rs 2 crore; how many of those people saw the video is not established. The technical basis for the police description of the video as AI-generated is not disclosed.","incidentDate":"2025-01-25","incidentEndDate":"2025-04-04","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"day","exposurePattern":"single_interaction","reportedDate":"2025-05-26","aiSystem":"Video of Donald Trump promoting 'Trump Hotel Rentals' that police described as AI-generated, used to draw people to a fraudulent investment app; no generation tool is identified","aiProduct":"Unidentified video tool","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["financial_loss"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"According to police and his own account, a lawyer lost Rs 5,93,240 after a YouTube video, which police described as AI-generated, promoting a fake Trump hotel investment app; police report more than 200 complaints statewide.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"partial","affectedCountEvidence":"One person counted: the lawyer, whose loss after seeing the video is reported by PTI (from police) and by the Indian Express (his own account). The Times of India reports more than 200 complainants and police claims of more than 800 investors, but the inspected sources do not establish how many of them saw the AI-generated video, so they are left unquantified. He did not use the AI tool, so he is counted under other people harmed.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"IN","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"investigation_opened","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.theweek.in/wire-updates/national/2025/05/26/mes19-ka-cyber-fraud.html","primarySourceLabel":"PTI via The Week: Karnataka lawyer duped by cyber fraudsters using AI-generated Trump video (26 May 2025)","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-21T03:05:31.782805+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-21T03:05:31.782805+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["india","karnataka","investment-fraud","trump-impersonation","ai-generated-video","task-scam","youtube"]}]}