{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-10-23T08:15:49.910Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"us","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"","evidence":"","year":"2025","response":"regulatory","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":35,"coverage":{"cases":35,"countries":13,"languages":9,"unknownLocation":9,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":0,"lawsuits":0,"regulatory":35,"minors":7,"coreRelations":31,"contextualRelations":5,"mixedRelations":2,"unknownRelations":1,"relationPending":1,"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-hanoi-graduation-exam-candidates-photographed-papers-for-studyx-and-gemini-answers-criminal-case-opened","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Qua điều tra, Công an Hà Nội xác định có 2 thí sinh đã lén mang điện thoại vào phòng thi, chụp đề thi dùng ứng dụng AI để giải.'; 'vừa ra quyết định khởi tố vụ án vô ý làm lộ bí mật nhà nước để điều tra'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'The Hanoi police announced Tuesday they are investigating the two boys for \"accidental disclosure of classified information\" during the exams on June 26 and 27.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Hanoi police said two candidates in the 2025 national high school graduation exam smuggled phones into exam rooms, photographed exam papers and used AI apps to solve them, and opened a criminal case for unintentionally disclosing state secrets.","causal_attribution":"The Hanoi police announcement as reported by both outlets; one origin."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'đã lén mang điện thoại di động vào phòng thi rồi chụp ảnh một phần đề thi môn toán và đăng tải lên ứng dụng StudyX để giải đề thi nhưng chỉ chép được đáp án của 2 câu hỏi thi.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'He then uploaded the images to the StudyX app for answers but was only able to write two answers from it before being detected.'; 'He did the same thing the next day during the Chemistry and Physics tests.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"One candidate uploaded a photo of part of the maths paper to the StudyX app but copied only two answers, and repeated this in the chemistry and physics papers the next day.","causal_attribution":"Police account as reported."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'rồi sử dụng ứng dụng AI Gemini trên điện thoại giải đề thi. Hội đồng coi thi đã phát hiện, lập biên bản vi phạm quy chế thi, đình chỉ thi.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'the police discovered another boy had also used a mobile phone to cheat, taking photos of the Math, History and English test papers and using AI application Gemini.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The second candidate photographed the maths, history and English papers and used Gemini on his phone to solve them; the exam board caught him, recorded the violation and suspended him from the exam.","causal_attribution":"Police account as reported; the suspension is reported by Thanh Nien."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Thông tin này khiến thí sinh, phụ huynh bày tỏ băn khoăn, lo lắng về công tác bảo mật đề thi'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'The police said students involved in this practice would be disqualified and have their test results annulled and could face administrative or criminal action.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"A photo of part of the maths paper appeared on an AI maths-solving app before the exam ended, causing candidates and parents concern about exam security; police said students who cheated this way would be disqualified, have their results annulled and could face administrative or criminal action.","causal_attribution":"Context and the police's stated consequences; whether the two candidates' results were annulled is not reported."}],"effects":[{"label":"two exam candidates became subjects of a criminal case for disclosing state secrets","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"},{"label":"one candidate was suspended from the exam","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://thanhnien.vn/khoi-to-vu-an-2-thi-sinh-dung-ai-giai-de-thi-tot-nghiep-thpt-185250701071054936.htm","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"vi","translation_note":"Read in Vietnamese by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-23 and translated by the research agent (an AI) into English; no human translator or reviewer was involved. Thanh Niên, 1 Jul 2025; HTTP 200, full text read. Gives the Hanoi police account; the body uses the candidates' initials, which this record omits.","independence_group":"hanoi-police-1-jul-2025"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://e.vnexpress.net/news/news/education/2-hanoi-boys-caught-using-ai-to-cheat-in-high-school-graduation-exam-4908688.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-23; HTTP 200, full text read. VnExpress International, 1 Jul 2025 (PT), relaying the same Hanoi police announcement.","independence_group":"hanoi-police-1-jul-2025"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["education","justice"],"unknowns":["Whether either candidate was later charged, and the outcome of the criminal case.","Whether the candidates' results were annulled, and the candidates' ages.","What the apps produced beyond the two answers the first candidate copied."],"geography":{"basis":"The exams took place in Hanoi, Vietnam, and the investigating agency is the Hanoi police (Thanh Nien; VnExpress International). No court is involved yet.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["VN"],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a consequential-response case: a criminal case and an exam suspension after two graduation exam candidates used StudyX and Gemini to solve photographed papers, according to the Hanoi police account reported by Thanh Nien and VnExpress International. The candidates are not named.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-23"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The harm is the exam board's and police's response to cheating with AI apps, reviewed as a consequential response. According to the Hanoi police account reported by Thanh Nien and VnExpress International, one candidate uploaded photos of exam papers to StudyX and copied two of its answers, and the other used Gemini on his phone to solve photographed papers. The criminal offence named is the unintended disclosure of the classified exam papers, which the candidates sent to the AI apps during the exam.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Hanoi police open a criminal case after two graduation exam candidates photographed exam papers and had AI apps StudyX and Gemini solve them","summary":"Hanoi police said on 1 July 2025 that they had opened a criminal case for unintentionally disclosing state secrets after two candidates in Vietnam's national high school graduation exam on 26 and 27 June 2025 smuggled phones into exam rooms, photographed exam papers and used AI apps to solve them. According to the police account reported by Thanh Nien and VnExpress, one candidate uploaded part of the maths paper to the StudyX app but copied only two answers, and did the same in the chemistry and physics papers; the other photographed the maths, history and English papers and used Gemini, was caught by the exam board and was suspended from the exam. A photo of part of the maths paper had appeared on an AI maths-solving app before the exam ended, worrying candidates and parents about exam security. Police said students who did this would be disqualified, have their results annulled and could face administrative or criminal action. Neither candidate is named.","incidentDate":"2025-06-26","incidentEndDate":"2025-06-27","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"day","exposurePattern":"repeated_interactions","reportedDate":"2025-07-01","aiSystem":"StudyX, an AI problem-solving app, and Gemini, which two exam candidates used on smuggled phones to solve photographed exam papers (per the Hanoi police account as reported)","aiProduct":"StudyX and Gemini","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["educational_harm","legal_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"Two Hanoi graduation exam candidates became the subjects of a criminal case for disclosing state secrets, and one was suspended from the exam, after they photographed exam papers and used StudyX and Gemini to solve them, according to the Hanoi police account.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":2,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"Two people: the two candidates who used the AI apps and are the subjects of the police case (Thanh Nien; VnExpress International). Candidates and parents who voiced concern are an audience and are not counted.","victimAgeRange":"unknown","jurisdiction":"VN","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"investigation_opened","outcomeStatus":"unknown","primarySourceUrl":"https://thanhnien.vn/khoi-to-vu-an-2-thi-sinh-dung-ai-giai-de-thi-tot-nghiep-thpt-185250701071054936.htm","primarySourceLabel":"Thanh Niên: criminal case opened over two candidates using AI to solve graduation exam papers (1 Jul 2025)","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-23T03:17:52.727104+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-23T03:17:52.727104+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["gemini","studyx","exam-cheating","graduation-exam","criminal-investigation","vietnam","students"]},{"id":"2025-lam-dong-vietnam-exam-candidate-streamed-paper-to-friend-who-solved-it-with-chatgpt-criminal-case-opened","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Giám thị phát hiện thí sinh nam 18 tuổi sử dụng thiết bị công nghệ cao để gian lận nên lập biên bản, đình chỉ thi ngay lập tức.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'nghi vấn sử dụng thiết bị công nghệ cao để gian lận thi cử nên đã báo cáo Trưởng điểm thi kiểm tra, lập biên bản đình chỉ thi với trường hợp trên.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"During the literature paper of the 2025 national high school graduation exam on 26 June 2025 in Lam Dong province, an invigilator caught an 18-year-old candidate using high-tech devices and recorded his suspension from the exam.","causal_attribution":"The provincial police and exam account as reported."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'sau đó tải về, sử dụng ứng dụng ChatGPT để giải đề, đọc đáp án qua cuộc gọi Messenger'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'Người này chỉ chụp được hai trang đề, rồi dùng ứng dụng Chat GPT giải, đọc đáp án.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'He only captured two pages of the exam and then used the ChatGPT app to solve and read the answers.'; 'He then instructed another teen, aged 17, to use the device to assist in solving and reading the answers to the exam questions.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"The candidate streamed the exam paper through a hidden button camera to a 17-year-old friend at an internet cafe, who photographed part of it, used the ChatGPT app to solve it and read the answers to him over a Messenger call.","causal_attribution":"Police account of the scheme, from the candidate's statements and their investigation; the outlets differ on whether one page or two were captured."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Công an tỉnh Lâm Đồng đã ra quyết định khởi tố vụ án hình sự “Cố ý làm lộ bí mật nhà nước; chiếm đoạt bí mật nhà nước”'; 'Bước đầu, cơ quan Công an đánh giá chỉ có 2 trường hợp'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'The 18-year-old is currently under investigation for \"deliberate disclosure of classified information, appropriation of classified documents\" in relation to the national high school graduation exam held on Thursday and Friday.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"On 27 June 2025 the Lam Dong provincial police opened a criminal case for intentionally disclosing and appropriating state secrets under Article 337(2) of the Penal Code, because unreleased graduation exam papers are classified; police said only the two young people were involved.","causal_attribution":"The opening of the criminal case is the police's official act as reported by the provincial paper (the decision itself was not inspected); no charge or outcome is reported."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'authorities had also identified three other candidates at two different exam centers who used their phones to take pictures of part of the exam questions and sent them to AI apps to solve. All three students admitted to their violations.'; 'while this was a minor incident that did not affect the security or safety of the exam'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"A Ministry of Public Security official said three other candidates at two exam centres photographed parts of exam papers and sent them to AI apps to solve, and that they admitted the violations; he called it a minor incident that did not affect the exam's security.","causal_attribution":"Context from the ministry press conference; the three other candidates are separate events."}],"effects":[{"label":"the candidate was suspended from the graduation exam","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"},{"label":"police opened a criminal case for disclosing state secrets in which they said only the candidate and the friend who used ChatGPT were involved","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://baolamdong.vn/cong-an-lam-dong-khoi-to-vu-an-de-dieu-tra-gian-lan-trong-de-thi-van-tot-nghiep-thpt-281996.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"vi","translation_note":"Read in Vietnamese by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-23 and translated by the research agent (an AI) into English; no human translator or reviewer was involved. Báo Lâm Đồng (provincial newspaper), 27 Jun 2025; HTTP 200, full text read. Gives the provincial police account; the body uses the young people's initials, which this record omits.","independence_group":"lam-dong-provincial-police-27-jun-2025"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://vnexpress.net/nam-sinh-tuon-de-tot-nghiep-thpt-ra-ngoai-nho-ban-dung-chatgpt-giai-4907275.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"vi","translation_note":"Read in Vietnamese by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-23 and translated by the research agent (an AI) into English; no human translator or reviewer was involved. VnExpress, 27 Jun 2025; HTTP 200, full text read. Relays the same police account and the ministry press conference.","independence_group":"lam-dong-provincial-police-27-jun-2025"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://e.vnexpress.net/news/news/education/vietnamese-student-faces-charges-for-cheating-on-high-school-graduation-exam-with-chatgpt-4907386.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-23; HTTP 200, full text read. English version of the VnExpress report of the same police account.","independence_group":"lam-dong-provincial-police-27-jun-2025"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["education","justice"],"unknowns":["Whether either young person was later charged as a defendant, and the outcome of the criminal case.","Whether the candidate's exam results were annulled and how the suspension affected his university admission.","What ChatGPT produced and how much of it the candidate copied."],"geography":{"basis":"The exam centre is in Lam Dong province, Vietnam, and the investigating agency is the Lam Dong provincial police (Bao Lam Dong; VnExpress). No court is involved yet.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["VN"],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a consequential-response case: an exam suspension and a criminal case opened after a candidate's friend used ChatGPT to solve the streamed graduation exam paper, according to the Lam Dong police account reported by the provincial paper and VnExpress. The two young people are not named.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-23"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The harm is the exam authorities' and police's response to cheating in which ChatGPT solved the exam paper, reviewed as a consequential response. According to the police account reported by Bao Lam Dong and VnExpress, the friend uploaded photographs of the streamed paper to the ChatGPT app, which produced the answers he read to the candidate in the exam room. The suspension was for using high-tech devices, and the criminal offence named is the disclosure and appropriation of the classified paper, which the scheme sent outside the room and into ChatGPT.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Vietnamese police open a criminal case after an exam candidate streamed his graduation exam paper to a friend who solved it with ChatGPT","summary":"On 26 June 2025, during the literature paper of Vietnam's national high school graduation exam in Lam Dong province, an invigilator caught an 18-year-old candidate using a hidden button camera and wireless earpiece and suspended him from the exam. According to the provincial police account reported by Bao Lam Dong and VnExpress, he had streamed the paper to a 17-year-old friend at an internet cafe, who photographed part of it, used the ChatGPT app to solve it and read the answers to him over a Messenger call. On 27 June 2025 the Lam Dong police security investigation agency opened a criminal case for intentionally disclosing and appropriating state secrets, because unreleased graduation exam papers are classified; police said initially that only the two young people were involved and that they had found no further sharing of the paper. Neither is named.","incidentDate":"2025-06-26","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"day","exposurePattern":"single_interaction","reportedDate":"2025-06-27","aiSystem":"ChatGPT app, which the candidate's friend used to solve photographed pages of the literature exam paper and whose answers were read to the candidate over a call (per the Lam Dong police account as reported)","aiProduct":"ChatGPT","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["educational_harm","legal_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"An 18-year-old candidate was suspended from Vietnam's national graduation exam and police opened a criminal case for disclosing state secrets in which they said only he and a 17-year-old friend were involved after the friend used ChatGPT to solve the streamed exam paper, according to the Lam Dong police account.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"Two people: the 17-year-old friend who used ChatGPT (participant user) and the 18-year-old candidate who received its answers and was suspended from the exam (other person); police say the case concerns only these two (Bao Lam Dong). The three other candidates mentioned by the ministry official are separate events and are not counted.","victimAgeRange":"minor","jurisdiction":"VN","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"investigation_opened","outcomeStatus":"unknown","primarySourceUrl":"https://baolamdong.vn/cong-an-lam-dong-khoi-to-vu-an-de-dieu-tra-gian-lan-trong-de-thi-van-tot-nghiep-thpt-281996.html","primarySourceLabel":"Báo Lâm Đồng: Lam Dong police open criminal case over cheating in the graduation exam literature paper (27 Jun 2025)","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-23T03:14:59.178559+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-23T03:14:59.178559+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["chatgpt","exam-cheating","graduation-exam","criminal-investigation","vietnam","students"]},{"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"]},{"id":"2025-sixth-circuit-removes-appointed-defence-lawyer-over-cocounsel-drafted-briefs-delaying-indigent-defendants-appeal","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'qualified for a two-level enhancement under § 3B1.1(c) of the Sentencing Guidelines for his leadership role during drug-trafficking activities.'; 'serving as court-appointed counsel for an indigent defendant through a publicly funded program'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"A lawyer appointed under the Criminal Justice Act represented an indigent defendant appealing a two-level leadership enhancement to his drug-trafficking sentence in the Sixth Circuit.","causal_attribution":"The court's own description of the appointment and the appeal."},{"id":"c2","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'The first tell was the file name of the principal brief:'; '“CoCounsel Skill Results.” CoCounsel is the name of Westlaw’s internal artificial-intelligence'; 'But the purported direct quotations do not appear in their cited sources.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'The first tell was the file name of the principal brief: \"CoCounsel Skill Results.\" CoCounsel is the name of Westlaw's internal artificial-intelligence platform.'; 'But the purported direct quotations do not appear in their cited sources.'; 'misrepresent the holdings of both United States v. Washington'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The court found that the principal brief's file name was 'CoCounsel Skill Results', that three quotations in the briefs appear in no legal authority, and that the briefs misrepresented the holdings of two precedents.","causal_attribution":"The court's findings, quoted verbatim in the Volokh post; the opinion PDF carries the same text."},{"id":"c3","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'he directed an unnamed “staff” member to'; 'upload district court documents to Westlaw’s CoCounsel program to create a first draft of the'; 'repeated that same process for the reply brief.'; 'He concedes that the three inaccurate quotations'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'he directed an unnamed \"staff\" member to upload district court documents to Westlaw's CoCounsel program to create a first draft of the principal brief.'; 'He concedes that the three inaccurate quotations identified above were the product of artificial intelligence, that they do not appear in any legal authorities'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The lawyer admitted that a staff member uploaded district court documents to Westlaw's CoCounsel to create a first draft of the principal brief, that he repeated the process for the reply, and that the three inaccurate quotations were produced by artificial intelligence and not verified.","causal_attribution":"The lawyer's show-cause response as the court records it; the court's opinion documents the admission."},{"id":"c4","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'shall not be compensated under the Criminal Justice Act for his time spent on'; 'to consider disciplinary proceedings under Sixth'; 'Disciplinary Clerk for the Kentucky Bar Association'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The court ordered that the lawyer receive no Criminal Justice Act compensation for the appeal, forwarded the opinion to the circuit's chief judge to consider disciplinary proceedings, and served it on the Kentucky Bar Association's disciplinary clerk.","causal_attribution":"The court's orders."},{"id":"c5","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'different appellate counsel to file new briefs—further delaying resolution of'; 'reset the briefing schedule upon appointment of replacement counsel.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"By a separate order the same day the court removed the lawyer, directed the appointment of replacement counsel, locked the briefs he had filed and reset the briefing schedule, which the court said further delayed resolution of the defendant's criminal appeal.","causal_attribution":"The court's own account of its separate order and of the delay."},{"id":"c6","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'utilizing Westlaw CoCounsel “in this way for a Court of Appeals brief.”'; 'has never been disciplined over his 40-year career'; 'candor in acknowledging his improper use of artificial intelligence.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'first time utilizing Westlaw CoCounsel \"in this way for a Court of Appeals brief.\"'; 'has never been disciplined over his 40-year career'; 'his candor in acknowledging his improper use of artificial intelligence.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The lawyer said this was his first use of CoCounsel in this way for an appeals brief and that he had not been disciplined in a 40-year career; the court acknowledged his timely response and candour while finding his conduct inexcusable.","causal_attribution":"The lawyer's explanations and the court's assessment, as the opinion records them; recorded as mitigation."},{"id":"c7","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'***LOCKED PURSUANT TO ORDER ENTERED 04/03/2026***APPELLANT BRIEF filed by'; 'Certificate of Service: 10/21/2025. Argument Request: not requested. [25-5623]'; '***LOCKED PURSUANT TO ORDER ENTERED 04/03/2026***REPLY BRIEF filed by Attorney'; 'Certificate of Service: 12/26/2025. [25-5623]'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"The docket records that the principal brief for the defendant was filed on 21 October 2025 and the reply brief on 26 December 2025, and that both entries were locked under the order of 3 April 2026.","causal_attribution":"Clerk docket entries; they date the filings and do not describe their contents."}],"effects":[{"label":"indigent defendant's criminal appeal delayed while replacement counsel files new briefs","claim_id":"c5","direction":"negative"},{"label":"court-appointed lawyer denied compensation for the appeal and referred for disciplinary consideration","claim_id":"c4","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.opn.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/26a0105p-06.pdf","kind":"court_order","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Sixth Circuit published per curiam opinion, No. 25-5623, decided and filed 3 April 2026; PDF read in full (HTTP 200).","independence_group":"sixth-circuit-opinion-3-apr-2026"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://reason.com/volokh/2026/04/09/the-first-tell-was-the-file-name-of-the-principal-brief-cocounsel-skill-results/","kind":"commentary_with_filing_excerpt","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"The Volokh Conspiracy (Reason), 9 April 2026, quoting the same opinion at length; read in full (HTTP 200). Same origin as the opinion.","independence_group":"sixth-circuit-opinion-3-apr-2026"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.courtlistener.com/api/rest/v4/search/?q=docket_id%3A70724463%20BRIEF&type=rd","kind":"court_docket_index","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"CourtListener search API listing of docket entries for Sixth Circuit No. 25-5623 (RECAP), read on 2026-10-19 (HTTP 200); entry descriptions as entered by the clerk. Party and counsel names in the entries are not reproduced.","independence_group":"sixth-circuit-docket-25-5623"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use","others_use"],"contexts":["justice","work"],"unknowns":["How long the appeal is delayed, and the outcome of any disciplinary proceedings."],"geography":{"basis":"The appeal is from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and the lawyer practises in Kentucky (opinion).","court_countries":["US"],"event_countries":["US"],"affected_person_countries":["US"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published with communicated_with and informed_decision_about: the court documents that a court-appointed defence lawyer filed briefs drafted with Westlaw's CoCounsel that carried quotations found in no authority, and, acting on those briefs, removed him, ordered new counsel and briefing that delayed the indigent defendant's criminal appeal, and denied him compensation. The harm reaches a criminal defendant who did not use the tool.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-19"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The court found that the principal brief's file name was 'CoCounsel Skill Results' and that three quotations in the briefs appear in no legal authority. The lawyer admitted that a staff member used Westlaw's CoCounsel to produce the first draft, that he repeated the process for the reply, and that the false quotations were produced by artificial intelligence. Reading those briefs, the court removed him, ordered new counsel and new briefs for the defendant, and denied him compensation.","status":"supported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with","informed_decision_about"]},"name":"Sixth Circuit removes court-appointed defence lawyer over CoCounsel-drafted briefs with false quotations, delaying an indigent defendant's appeal","summary":"In a published opinion of 3 April 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit addressed the briefs a lawyer appointed under the Criminal Justice Act had filed for an indigent defendant appealing a sentencing enhancement in a drug-trafficking case. The court noticed that the principal brief's file name was 'CoCounsel Skill Results' and found three quotations that appear in no legal authority and misstatements of two precedents. The lawyer admitted that a staff member had used Westlaw's CoCounsel to create the first draft, that he repeated the process for the reply, and that the false quotations came from artificial intelligence he did not verify. The court denied him compensation for the appeal, referred the opinion for possible disciplinary proceedings and to the Kentucky Bar Association, and by separate order removed him, locked his briefs and ordered replacement counsel to file new ones, which it said further delayed resolution of the defendant's appeal. The court acknowledged his candour and his 40 years without discipline.","incidentDate":"2025-10-21","incidentEndDate":"2026-04-03","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"day","exposurePattern":"repeated_interactions","reportedDate":"2026-04-03","aiSystem":"Westlaw CoCounsel (Thomson Reuters), used by a lawyer's staff member to produce the first drafts of a principal and a reply brief","aiProduct":"CoCounsel","aiCompany":"Thomson Reuters","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["legal_harm","professional_harm","financial_loss"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"The court documents that briefs drafted with Westlaw's CoCounsel and filed unverified by a court-appointed lawyer led it to remove him and order new counsel and briefs, further delaying an indigent defendant's criminal appeal; the lawyer was denied compensation for the appeal and referred for disciplinary consideration.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"established","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":2,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"Two: the defendant, whose appeal the court says was further delayed, and the lawyer, who was denied compensation and referred. The lawyer's staff member ran the tool and is not counted; no other harmed person is described.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"US","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"regulatory_action","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.opn.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/26a0105p-06.pdf","primarySourceLabel":"U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, No. 25-5623, opinion decided and filed 3 April 2026","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-19T03:16:56.688661+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-19T03:16:56.688661+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["legal","ai-fabricated-quotations","court-appointed-counsel","criminal-appeal","sanction","cocounsel"]},{"id":"2025-central-poland-pupils-ai-nude-image-of-classmate-prosecutors-reopen-case","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Był czerwiec. Grupka uczniów z tej podstawówki najpierw pobrała z sieci zdjęcie koleżanki, a potem, przez jedną z wielu aplikacji oferujących „rozebranie” osoby z wgranego zdjęcia, wygenerowała nagie zdjęcie kobiety z twarzą koleżanki. Uczniowie opublikowali je w internecie, na instagramowym profilu szkoły. I zachęcali innych do zamawiania „zdjęcia” dziewczyny.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Uczniowie podstawówki przy pomocy AI \"rozebrali\" swoją koleżankę i udostępnili wygenerowany wizerunek w mediach społecznościowych, zachęcając innych użytkowników do tworzenia własnych przeróbek.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"In June 2025 a group of pupils at a primary school in central Poland downloaded a classmate's photo from the internet, used one of the applications that offer to \"undress\" a person in an uploaded photo to generate a nude image bearing her face, posted it on the school's Instagram profile and encouraged others to order further \"photos\" of her.","causal_attribution":"OKO.press narrative and the data protection authority's account as reported by Prawo.pl; the application is not named."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Prezes UODO podkreślił, że osoba, której wizerunek został zmodyfikowany przy użyciu aplikacji wykorzystującej sztuczną inteligencję, jest osobą małoletnią poniżej 15. roku życia i istnieje wysokie prawdopodobieństwo możliwości jej identyfikacji.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"Prezes UODO sprawę zgłosił policji i prokuraturze, wskazując, że doszło do kradzieży tożsamości (art. 190 a § 2 kodeksu karnego), produkcji, możliwości utrwalania i rozpowszechniania treści pornograficznych z udziałem osoby małoletniej (art. 202 § 3 k.k.) oraz nielegalnego przetworzenia danych osobowych (107 ust. 1 ustawy o ochronie danych osobowych).","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The president of the Personal Data Protection Office (UODO) notified the police, stating that the girl whose image was modified with an AI-based application was under 15 and could very probably be identified.","causal_attribution":"The data protection authority's statement as reported by Prawo.pl, and its notification as summarised by OKO.press (one origin: the authority)."},{"id":"c6","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"„Dużo o tym w szkole rozmawialiśmy. Dzieci miały warsztaty z psychologiem, pedagogiem, policją. Działania profilaktyczne trwały cały miesiąc” ... „To była patowa sytuacja. Cała historia wydarzyła się poza szkołą, na urządzeniach, które dzieciom kupili rodzice.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The head teacher told OKO.press that the events took place outside school on devices the children's parents had bought them, and that the school ran a month of preventive workshops with a psychologist, a pedagogue and the police.","causal_attribution":"Head teacher interviewed by OKO.press."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Policja jednak odmówiła wszczęcia śledztwa. Prokuratura jeszcze tego samego miesiąca, w czerwcu, decyzję policji zatwierdziła. Powód? Organy zgodnie uznały, że „czyn nastolatków nie zawiera znamion czynu zabronionego”.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Policja i prokuratura uznały, że AI-wygenerowany materiał nie stanowi treści pornograficznej, a przerobienie dostępnego publicznie zdjęcia nie jest „przetwarzaniem danych osobowych”. Ich zdaniem uczennica nie poniosła szkody","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"The police refused to open proceedings and the prosecutor's office upheld that decision, finding that the pupils' act had no features of a prohibited act; according to Gazeta Prawna they considered that the AI-generated material was not pornographic content and that the pupil suffered no harm.","causal_attribution":"OKO.press and the authority's account relayed by Gazeta Prawna; the police did not answer OKO.press."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Prezes Urzędu Ochrony Danych Osobowych interweniuje u Prokuratora Generalnego po tym, jak policja odmówiła wszczęcia postępowania w sprawie wygenerowania przez uczniów nagiego zdjęcia ich koleżanki za pomocą aplikacji opartej na sztucznej inteligencji. ... UODO domaga się wznowienia postępowania, wskazując na konieczność ochrony małoletnich przed rosnącym zjawiskiem deepfake’ów.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"Prezes UODO skierował wówczas apel do ministra sprawiedliwości i Prokuratora Generalnego Waldemara Żurka o podjęcie działań w sprawie.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"The UODO president then asked the Minister of Justice and Prosecutor General, Waldemar Żurek, to have the case taken up again.","causal_attribution":"The authority's own intervention, relayed by two outlets (one origin)."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Jak wynika z czwartkowego komunikatu Urzędu, prokuratura poinformowała prezesa Wróblewskiego o podjęciu sprawy uczennicy na nowo.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"In January 2026 the UODO announced that the prosecutor's office had informed its president that it was taking up the pupil's case again.","causal_attribution":"The authority's communique as relayed by CyberDefence24; the prosecutors' own decision was not read."},{"id":"c7","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Podobnie było w sprawie wygenerowanego rozbieranego zdjęcia uczennicy podstawówki (przez jej szkolnych kolegów), w której Prezes UODO po raz kolejny wnioskował niedawno o wznowienie śledztwa.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s5"}],"assertion":"In a statement of 24 June 2026 on a separate case, the UODO said that in this primary-school case its president had recently asked once again for the investigation to be resumed.","causal_attribution":"The authority's own statement; it does not say whether the proceedings reopened in January 2026 had been closed again."}],"effects":[{"label":"AI-generated nude image of a girl under 15 posted online by classmates","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"},{"label":"police and prosecutors initially declined to open proceedings","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://oko.press/fejkowe-nagie-zdjecia-uczennicy-policja-to-ai-sprawy-nie-ma","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"pl","translation_note":"Read in Polish on 2026-10-19 (HTTP 200); quoted passages are kept in Polish and the English sense was rendered by the research agent (an AI), not a human translator. OKO.press report of 10 December 2025, with an interview of the school head teacher; the outlet withholds the town and the head teacher's name.","independence_group":"oko-press-reporting-10-dec-2025"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.prawo.pl/oswiata/kara-za-deepfake-zdjecia-dziecka,533313.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"pl","translation_note":"Read in Polish on 2026-10-19 (HTTP 200); quoted passages are kept in Polish and the English sense was rendered by the research agent (an AI), not a human translator. Prawo.pl report of 11 June 2025 on the data protection authority's notification to the police.","independence_group":"uodo-statements-on-the-case"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.gazetaprawna.pl/nowe-technologie/artykuly/10954096,ai-wygenerowala-nagie-zdjecie-uczennicy-organy-scigania-odmowily-sled.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"pl","translation_note":"Read in Polish on 2026-10-19 (HTTP 200); quoted passages are kept in Polish and the English sense was rendered by the research agent (an AI), not a human translator. Gazeta Prawna report of 7 December 2025 on the authority's intervention with the Prosecutor General.","independence_group":"uodo-statements-on-the-case"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://cyberdefence24.pl/cyberbezpieczenstwo/zwrot-w-sprawie-deepnude-z-uczennica-jest-decyzja-prokuratury","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"pl","translation_note":"Read in Polish on 2026-10-19 (HTTP 200); quoted passages are kept in Polish and the English sense was rendered by the research agent (an AI), not a human translator. CyberDefence24 report of 15 January 2026 relaying the authority's communique on the prosecutors' decision.","independence_group":"uodo-statements-on-the-case"},{"id":"s5","url":"https://uodo.gov.pl/pl/138/4445","kind":"official_statement","access":"read","language":"pl","translation_note":"Read in Polish on 2026-10-19 (HTTP 200); quoted passages are kept in Polish and the English sense was rendered by the research agent (an AI), not a human translator. UODO news item of 24 June 2026 on a separate Krakow case, which refers back to this case.","independence_group":"uodo-statements-on-the-case"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["education","privacy","justice"],"unknowns":["Which application was used and how the AI generation was established.","Exactly when the police refusal was issued: OKO.press says the prosecutor upheld it in June 2025, while CyberDefence24 says the services refused in the autumn.","Whether the proceedings reopened in January 2026 were closed again before June 2026, when the UODO said its president had again asked for the investigation to be resumed.","What the reopened proceedings have found and whether any measures were imposed on the pupils.","How long the image stayed online and how many people saw it."],"geography":{"basis":"OKO.press places the primary school in central Poland (\"To centrum Polski\") and the Polish police and prosecutors handled the case. No court proceeding is reported, so court_countries is empty.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["PL"],"affected_person_countries":["PL"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a core case (depicted_or_impersonated): OKO.press and the Polish data protection authority both describe classmates using an AI \"undressing\" application to generate and post a nude image of a girl under 15, and the authority's complaint led prosecutors to reopen the case after police declined to act; in June 2026 the authority said it had again asked for the investigation to be resumed. The girl, the school and the town are not named.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-19"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"OKO.press reports that the pupils used one of the applications that offer to \"undress\" a person in an uploaded photo to generate a nude image with their classmate's face, and the Personal Data Protection Office (as reported by Prawo.pl and Gazeta Prawna) describes the girl's image as modified with an application using artificial intelligence. Gazeta Prawna reports that the police and prosecutors themselves treated the material as AI-generated when they declined to act. The generated image depicts the girl (depicted_or_impersonated) and its publication is the reported harm. The application is not named and no source describes how the AI generation was established.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["depicted_or_impersonated"]},"name":"Central Poland: pupils reportedly used an AI app to make a nude image of a classmate under 15; prosecutors reopened the case after the data regulator intervened","summary":"In June 2025, according to OKO.press, a group of pupils at a primary school in central Poland took a classmate's photo from the internet, used an application that offers to \"undress\" people in uploaded photos to generate a nude image bearing her face, posted it on the school's Instagram profile and urged others to order more such images. Poland's Personal Data Protection Office (UODO) says the girl was under 15 and notified the police, but the police declined to open proceedings and the prosecutor's office upheld that decision, finding no prohibited act; Gazeta Prawna reports that they considered the AI-generated material not pornographic and the pupil unharmed. The UODO president appealed to the Prosecutor General, in January 2026 the authority announced that prosecutors had informed it they were taking up the case again, and in June 2026 it said its president had recently asked once more for the investigation to be resumed. The application is not named.","incidentDate":"2025-06-01","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2025-06-11","aiSystem":"An application offering to \"undress\" a person in an uploaded photo, described by the data protection authority as using artificial intelligence (not named)","aiProduct":"Unidentified image tool","severity":"high","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["exploitation_or_abuse"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"According to OKO.press and the Polish data protection authority, classmates generated a nude image of a girl under 15 with an AI \"undressing\" app and posted it online; police and prosecutors initially declined to act.","frameworkFacets":[],"pathwayDirection":"outward","causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One girl, the classmate whose photo was turned into the nude image (OKO.press; UODO via Prawo.pl). The audience of the Instagram post is not counted.","victimAgeRange":"minor","jurisdiction":"PL","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"investigation_opened","outcomeStatus":"unknown","primarySourceUrl":"https://oko.press/fejkowe-nagie-zdjecia-uczennicy-policja-to-ai-sprawy-nie-ma","primarySourceLabel":"OKO.press, 10 December 2025: Jej fejkowe „nagie” zdjęcia mógł obejrzeć każdy w klasie. Policja: To AI, sprawy nie ma","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-19T03:13:13.685997+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-19T03:23:25.300558+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["ai-nude-image","sexual-images-of-minors","school","poland","data-protection-authority","case-reopened","depicted-or-impersonated"]},{"id":"2025-pune-police-say-man-lost-rs-43-lakh-after-deepfake-video-of-narayana-murthy-and-sudha-murty","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'recently fell prey to a deepfake video of Infosys founder Narayana Murthy and his wife Sudha Murty promoting AI-based share trading tools and lost Rs 43 lakh to a cyber scam, said the police.'; 'He subsequently approached the cybercrime police station of Pune, and after a preliminary inquiry, the police filed the FIR.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'reportedly had fallen prey to a deepfake video of Murty and her husband, Narayana Murthy, and lost Rs 43 lakh.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Pune police said a man from Pune fell prey to a deepfake video of Infosys founder Narayana Murthy and Sudha Murty promoting AI-based share trading tools and lost Rs 43 lakh to a cyber scam; the police filed an FIR on his complaint after a preliminary inquiry by the cybercrime police station.","causal_attribution":"The police account as reported by The Indian Express; NDTV's later mention adds no independent source."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'The advertisement allegedly promised a return of Rs 17 lakh after 28 days of initial investment of Rs 21,000 in a stock.'; 'The probe later revealed that it was a deepfake video that claimed that the initial investment of Rs 21,000 would grow manifold through a platform that uses AI tools for market analysis and investment strategy.'; 'The video also allegedly included deepfake testimonials of investors who claimed to have profited immensely.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"According to the complaint, the man saw an Instagram advertisement promising a return of Rs 17 lakh after 28 days on an initial Rs 21,000 investment; the link led to a video of Narayana Murthy and Sudha Murty which, The Indian Express reports, the probe later revealed was a deepfake claiming the investment would grow through a platform using AI tools, and which allegedly also included deepfake testimonials of investors.","causal_attribution":"The complainant's account and the probe's finding as reported; the technical basis for calling the video a deepfake is not stated."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Between February and May this year, the complainant allegedly received over 120 calls from international numbers in which the callers gave him various reasons to make more transfers, at times forcing him to do so.'; 'he was advised to borrow money from friends or take personal loans.'; 'the complainant allegedly made a total of 19 transfers worth Rs 43.68 lakh to fraudulent mule accounts.'; 'the callers went incommunicado, and he realised that he had been cheated.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"According to the complaint and the police, after an initial Rs 21,000 transfer the man received more than 120 calls from international numbers between February and May 2025, was pressured and at times coerced into further transfers and advised to borrow from friends or take personal loans, and made 19 transfers totalling Rs 43.68 lakh to mule accounts before the callers stopped responding.","causal_attribution":"The complainant's allegations and the police account as reported; the loss is the complaint's figure."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'He claimed that then he sought to finally make a withdrawal as he had exhausted all his savings'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The man said he sought a withdrawal after exhausting all his savings.","causal_attribution":"The complainant's own statement as reported."}],"effects":[{"label":"loss of Rs 43.68 lakh in transfers to a fake share-trading platform","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"},{"label":"savings exhausted","claim_id":"c4","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/pune/deepfake-video-narayana-murthy-sudha-murty-share-trading-cyber-fraud-10173720/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"The Indian Express (Pune), 6 August 2025, reporting the police account and the FIR; the live URL returned HTTP 403 and the Internet Archive capture was read in full.","independence_group":"indian-express-pune-police-aug-2025"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/sudha-murtys-deepfake-video-used-for-investment-scam-she-reacts-9845698","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"NDTV, 19 December 2025, a report on a later deepfake of Sudha Murty that mentions the Pune loss in one sentence marked 'reportedly'; the live URL returned HTTP 403 and the Internet Archive capture was read in full. Grouped with The Indian Express because it adds no independent account of the Pune case.","independence_group":"indian-express-pune-police-aug-2025"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["finance"],"unknowns":["How the police established that the video was a deepfake, and which tool produced it.","Who ran the advertisement and the platform, and whether any money was traced or recovered.","The outcome of the police investigation."],"geography":{"basis":"The Indian Express reports that the Pune police registered the FIR on the complaint of a man from Pune, and the cybercrime police station of Pune conducted the preliminary inquiry. Where the platform's callers and accounts operated is not stated.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["IN"],"affected_person_countries":["IN"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a core case (depicted_or_impersonated): the Pune police say a man was drawn into a share-trading fraud by a deepfake video of Narayana Murthy and Sudha Murty reached through an Instagram advertisement, and lost Rs 43.68 lakh in 19 transfers between February and May 2025 after being pressured by callers. The police attribution's technical basis is undisclosed, and the loss figure is the complaint's.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-18"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The Pune police, who registered the man's complaint after a preliminary inquiry, say he fell prey to a deepfake video of Narayana Murthy and Sudha Murty promoting share-trading tools, and The Indian Express reports that the probe revealed the video he was directed to from an Instagram advertisement was a deepfake, which allegedly also included deepfake investor testimonials. The video impersonated the two public figures toward him and led him to the platform whose callers obtained his transfers. The police do not disclose how they established that the video was AI-generated or name the tool.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["depicted_or_impersonated"]},"name":"Pune police say a man lost Rs 43 lakh in a share-trading fraud after a deepfake video of Narayana Murthy and Sudha Murty drew him in","summary":"The Indian Express reported in August 2025 that, according to the Pune police, a man from Pune fell prey to a deepfake video of Infosys founder Narayana Murthy and Sudha Murty promoting AI-based share-trading tools and lost Rs 43 lakh. According to the complaint, an Instagram advertisement promised Rs 17 lakh in 28 days on a Rs 21,000 investment and led to the video, which the probe found to be a deepfake; the video also allegedly included deepfake investor testimonials. Between February and May 2025 he received more than 120 calls from international numbers, was pressured and at times coerced into further payments, was advised to borrow from friends or take loans, and made 19 transfers totalling Rs 43.68 lakh to mule accounts before the callers stopped responding and he had exhausted his savings. The police registered an FIR after a preliminary inquiry. They do not say how they established that the video was a deepfake.","incidentDate":"2025-02-01","incidentEndDate":"2025-05-01","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"repeated_interactions","reportedDate":"2025-08-06","aiSystem":"An unidentified tool used to produce a deepfake video of Narayana Murthy and Sudha Murty, with what were allegedly deepfake investor testimonials, promoting a share-trading platform; the police describe it as a deepfake and name no tool","aiProduct":"Unidentified video tool","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["financial_loss"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"According to the police account and his complaint, the man made 19 transfers totalling Rs 43.68 lakh to mule accounts between February and May 2025 and exhausted his savings.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person: the complainant described in the Pune police case, who lost Rs 43.68 lakh. The two depicted public figures are not counted because no response or consequence for them in this case is reported.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"IN","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"investigation_opened","outcomeStatus":"unknown","primarySourceUrl":"https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/pune/deepfake-video-narayana-murthy-sudha-murty-share-trading-cyber-fraud-10173720/","primarySourceLabel":"The Indian Express, 6 August 2025: Pune man falls for deepfake video of Narayana Murthy and Sudha Murty, loses Rs 43 lakh","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-18T03:09:28.864572+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-18T03:09:28.864572+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["investment_fraud","deepfake_video","fake_celebrity_endorsement","share_trading_fraud","india"]},{"id":"2025-sweden-authorities-say-ai-made-ads-of-finance-profiles-drew-savers-into-pump-and-dump-frauds","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Över 5 000 svenskar har förlorat sammanlagt en halv miljard kronor i år i så kallade \"pump and dump\"-bedrägerier.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'Hittills har över 5 000 svenska småsparare gått miste om en halv miljard kronor i bedrägerierna, enligt Finansinspektionen.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"},{"locator":"'Enligt Finansinspektionens senaste siffror har omkring 5 000 svenskar drabbats i år och förlorat sammanlagt en halv miljard kronor till bedragarna.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s5"},{"locator":"'ska enligt den svenska tillsynsmyndigheten FI ha lurat mer än 5 000 svenskar. Totalt uppgår summan till en halv miljard kronor som bedragarna tillskansat sig.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s6"}],"assertion":"Several outlets, citing Finansinspektionen (the Swedish financial supervisor), reported in October 2025 that more than 5,000 small savers in Sweden had lost a total of about half a billion kronor that year in so-called pump-and-dump share frauds.","causal_attribution":"Finansinspektionen's figure for pump-and-dump frauds as a whole, relayed by several outlets (one origin); it does not say how many of these savers saw an AI-made advert."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'”Vissa privatpersoner har förlorat flera miljoner kronor”, säger Jimmy Kvarnström, chef för avdelningen Marknader på Finansinspektionen (FI), till SVT:s Ekonomibyrån.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s6"}],"assertion":"A Finansinspektionen head of department told SVT that some private individuals had lost several million kronor.","causal_attribution":"Statement of a supervisory official as relayed from SVT."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'– Det som är skillnad nu är att det är en förfinad metod där man använder sig av senaste tekniken med AI. Jag kan inte gå närmare in på vilka utredningar vi bedriver eftersom det råder förundersökningssekretess, säger Björn Rygart.'; '– Det vi ser nu är en ny typ av tillvägagångssätt, som styrs från utlandet.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s5"}],"assertion":"An investigator (kammarkommissarie) at the Swedish Economic Crime Authority told TT that the frauds were a new, refined method using the latest AI technology, run from abroad, and that the investigator could not describe the authority's investigations because of preliminary-investigation secrecy.","causal_attribution":"The investigating authority's attribution of AI use to the method; it does not say how the AI use was established or which tools were used."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Standardförfarandet är ett tips på Facebook där en känd ekonomiprofil berättar om en säker aktieinvestering.'; '– Jag och omkring 15 – 20 andra finansprofiler har använts. Den som luras anmodas att gå med i en whats up-grupp där man kommer få våra bästa aktietips helt utan kostnad'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"According to TV4, the usual pattern began with a tip on Facebook in which a well-known finance profile appeared to recommend a safe share investment; the investor interviewed said those deceived were asked to join a WhatsApp group promising free share tips, and that he and about 15 to 20 other finance profiles had been used.","causal_attribution":"TV4's description and the investor's account; one outlet."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Günter Mårder fick veta att han förekom i sammanhanget när folk började höra av sig till honom.'; '– Det handlade om 30, 40 annonser. Det började komma AI-producerade filmer, där jag pratade och stod inne på redaktionen på Dagens Industri där jag är krönikör'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The investor said he learned of the scheme when people began contacting him, that it involved 30 to 40 adverts, and that AI-produced films appeared in which he spoke in the newsroom of the paper where he is a columnist or in a podcast studio he was associated with.","causal_attribution":"The depicted investor's own description of the adverts, reported by TV4; the films are not shown to have been examined."},{"id":"c6","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'– Hela sommaren gick åt till att hantera alla frågor som kom. Det gör ont eftersom det är inom ett fält där jag och de andra har vår profession.'; 'Jag är besviken på Meta som inte håller rent på sin egen gård.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The investor said that his whole summer went on handling the questions that came in, that it hurt because it concerned his profession and reputation, and that he was disappointed in Meta for not keeping its platform clean.","causal_attribution":"His own account to TV4."},{"id":"c7","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Ekonomijournalisten Gabriel Mellqvist, vars identitet utnyttjats, uttrycker frustration över att Meta, som äger Facebook, inte agerar mot de falska profilerna.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'Swedish financial journalist Gabriel Mellqvist is one such profile whose identity has been deepfaked using AI to con investors'; 'frustrated that his professional reputation is being damaged.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'– Jag känner stor frustration. Jag tycker det är bedrövligt att stora bolag inte tar i med hårdhandskarna mot sånt här, säger han till SR Ekot.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"Sveriges Radio reported that a financial journalist's identity had been used in fake Facebook profiles by the fraudsters; its English service said his identity had been deepfaked using AI and that he was frustrated that his professional reputation was being damaged, and he told SR he felt great frustration that large companies such as Meta did not act harder against it.","causal_attribution":"Sveriges Radio's report and its interview with the journalist (Omni relays the same interview); the AI description of his case is SR's English-service wording."}],"effects":[{"label":"savers' losses in pump-and-dump share frauds promoted with finance profiles' likenesses","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"},{"label":"depicted investor's summer spent answering questions and harm to professional reputation","claim_id":"c6","direction":"negative"},{"label":"depicted financial journalist's frustration at damage to professional reputation","claim_id":"c7","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.tv4.se/artikel/6YQRkByHXwnifKU4fHbRN1/finansprofiler-utnyttjas-av-bedragare-5000-svenskar-har-blivit-lurade","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"sv","translation_note":"Read in Swedish by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-17 and translated into English by the research agent (an AI); no human translator or reviewer was involved. TV4 Nyheterna report of 24 October 2025 with its own interview of the investor; read in full (HTTP 200). Its savers figure is unattributed in TV4's text and matches the Finansinspektionen figure other outlets attribute.","independence_group":"tv4-24-oct-2025"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.sverigesradio.se/artikel/smasparare-lurade-pa-halv-miljard-bedragare-ai-fejkar-finansprofiler","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"sv","translation_note":"Read in Swedish by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-17 and translated into English by the research agent (an AI); no human translator or reviewer was involved. Sveriges Radio Ekot item of 30 October 2025; the live URL returned HTTP 403 and the Internet Archive capture was read in full (text standfirst of a radio piece).","independence_group":"sveriges-radio-ekot-30-oct-2025"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.sverigesradio.se/artikel/thousands-of-small-savers-in-sweden-conned-out-of-millions-in-ai-powered-deepfake-investment-scams","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Sveriges Radio's English service (Radio Sweden) version of 31 October 2025 of the same Ekot report; live URL HTTP 403, Internet Archive capture read in full. Same origin as the Swedish item.","independence_group":"sveriges-radio-ekot-30-oct-2025"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://omni.se/profilen-rasar-mot-meta-jag-kanner-stor-frustration/a/yELAAJ","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"sv","translation_note":"Read in Swedish by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-17 and translated into English by the research agent (an AI); no human translator or reviewer was involved. Omni summary of 30 October 2025 relaying the journalist's interview with SR Ekot and the Finansinspektionen figure; read in full (HTTP 200). Grouped with SR because the quotation is SR's.","independence_group":"sveriges-radio-ekot-30-oct-2025"},{"id":"s5","url":"https://efn.se/ny-avancerad-ai-brottsvag-tusentals-svenskar-lurade-forfinad-metod","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"sv","translation_note":"Read in Swedish by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-17 and translated into English by the research agent (an AI); no human translator or reviewer was involved. EFN report of 26 October 2025 carrying the Economic Crime Authority investigator's statements given to the TT news agency; read in full (HTTP 200).","independence_group":"tt-economic-crime-authority-interview-oct-2025"},{"id":"s6","url":"https://www.dagensps.se/bors-finans/aktier/over-5-000-smasparare-blasta-i-nya-bedrageriet/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"sv","translation_note":"Read in Swedish by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-17 and translated into English by the research agent (an AI); no human translator or reviewer was involved. Dagens PS report of 20 October 2025 relaying SVT Ekonomibyrån's report and the Finansinspektionen official's statement to SVT; read in full (HTTP 200).","independence_group":"svt-ekonomibyran-oct-2025"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["finance","work"],"unknowns":["How many of the savers counted by Finansinspektionen saw an AI-made advert rather than another kind of tip, and their individual losses.","How the Economic Crime Authority established that AI was used, and which tools generated the films or images.","Whether any defrauded saver saw an advert depicting the investor or the journalist interviewed.","Whether Meta removed the adverts, and the outcome of the Economic Crime Authority's investigations."],"geography":{"basis":"Finansinspektionen's figure counts savers in Sweden, and the depicted investor and journalist are Swedish finance figures interviewed by Swedish media. The Economic Crime Authority says the frauds are run from abroad and no source locates the adverts' operation, so event countries are left unknown.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":["SE"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a core case (depicted_or_impersonated): the Economic Crime Authority says the 2025 pump-and-dump frauds against Swedish savers use AI, a depicted investor describes AI-produced films of himself in the adverts and the time and reputational cost to him, and a depicted financial journalist describes damage to his reputation. Finansinspektionen's savers figure is recorded without being tied to the AI adverts, and the AI attribution's technical basis is undisclosed.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-17"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"An investigator at the Swedish Economic Crime Authority, which is investigating these frauds, told TT that the pump-and-dump frauds use a refined method with the latest AI technology. The investor depicted in the adverts says AI-produced films showed him speaking in places associated with him, and that the adverts drew people towards a WhatsApp share-tip group. Finansinspektionen's figures describe the savers' losses. The authority does not say how the AI use was established or which tools were used, and no source examined a particular film.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["depicted_or_impersonated"]},"name":"Sweden: Economic Crime Authority says pump-and-dump share frauds on small savers used AI; an investor describes AI-made adverts of himself","summary":"In October 2025 Swedish media, citing Finansinspektionen, reported that more than 5,000 small savers had lost about half a billion kronor that year in pump-and-dump share frauds, and a Finansinspektionen official said some had lost several million kronor. An investigator at the Economic Crime Authority told TT that the frauds, run from abroad, use a refined method with the latest AI technology. TV4 described the usual pattern as a Facebook tip in which a well-known finance profile appears to recommend a safe investment, leading to a WhatsApp group. The investor Günter Mårder said 30 to 40 adverts and AI-produced films showed him speaking, that about 15 to 20 finance profiles had been used, and that his whole summer went on handling questions. Sveriges Radio reported that the financial journalist Gabriel Mellqvist's identity had been used and that he was frustrated at the damage to his professional reputation and at Meta's inaction. The authority does not say how the AI use was established, and the savers figure is not tied to the AI adverts.","incidentDate":"2025-01-01","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"year","exposurePattern":"single_interaction","reportedDate":"2025-10-20","aiSystem":"Unidentified tools used by fraudsters to produce films and images imitating well-known Swedish finance profiles in Facebook investment adverts; the Economic Crime Authority describes the method as using AI and names no tool","aiProduct":"Unidentified image and video tool","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["financial_loss","reputational_harm","psychological_distress"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"Finansinspektionen, as relayed, counts over 5,000 savers who lost about half a billion kronor in 2025 pump-and-dump frauds; a depicted investor says his summer went on answering questions and that it hurt professionally, and a depicted financial journalist describes frustration at damage to his reputation.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":2,"affectedCountStatus":"partial","affectedCountEvidence":"The two depicted finance figures who describe adverse consequences are counted: the investor (TV4) and the financial journalist (Sveriges Radio, relayed by Omni). Finansinspektionen's figure of over 5,000 defrauded savers covers pump-and-dump frauds as a whole and is not tied to the AI adverts saver by saver, so the savers are an unquantified remainder.","victimAgeRange":"unknown","jurisdiction":"SE","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"investigation_opened","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.tv4.se/artikel/6YQRkByHXwnifKU4fHbRN1/finansprofiler-utnyttjas-av-bedragare-5000-svenskar-har-blivit-lurade","primarySourceLabel":"TV4 Nyheterna, 24 October 2025: finance profiles exploited by fraudsters, 5,000 Swedes deceived","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-17T03:02:11.418899+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-17T03:06:43.830977+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["deepfake_advert","investment_fraud","pump_and_dump","finance_profile_likeness","sweden"]},{"id":"2025-massachusetts-federal-court-sanctions-out-of-state-lawyer-who-admitted-ai-drafting-brief-with-fictitious-citations","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'Defendants filed a Motion to Strike the Second Amended Complaint on November 21, 2025'; 'Within five hours of the Enterprise Defendants' filing of the Motion to Strike'; 'The Strike Opposition was replete with inaccurate citations, including:'; 'Attributing a quotation to a case with a fictitious Westlaw citation.'; 'Citing to a non-existent case.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The court found that an opposition filed on 21 November 2025 by the plaintiff's pro hac vice lawyer was replete with inaccurate citations, including a quotation attributed to a case with a fictitious Westlaw citation, and that a later opposition cited a non-existent case.","causal_attribution":"The court's own findings on the filings."},{"id":"c2","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'admitted to using AI to draft the Strike Opposition, explaining that he believed that'; 'the enterprise-level version of AI software he was using did not hallucinate cases'; 'a PDF version of [a] prior draft of the work product rather than the final, verified document'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"According to the order, the lawyer admitted using AI to draft the first opposition, explaining a belief that the enterprise-level version of the AI software in use did not hallucinate cases, and said a prior draft had been filed by mistake.","causal_attribution":"The lawyer's admission in the response to the order to show cause, as recorded by the court. It connects the AI tool's output to the fictitious citations in that filing."},{"id":"c3","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'a prolonged bout of influenza'; 'has not admitted to using AI in the Travelers and'; 'whether AI was used or not'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The lawyer did not admit using AI for the later oppositions, attributing their errors to influenza; the court held sanctions warranted whether or not AI was used for them.","causal_attribution":"The court's record of the lawyer's explanation and its reasoning. The AI contribution is established only for the first opposition."},{"id":"c4","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'is GRANTED and the Court imposes sanctions pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11.'; 'The Court revokes Attorney'; 'pro hac vice status'; 'These fees and costs shall not exceed $10,000.'; 'impose sanctions upon local counsel'; 'Dated: September 25, 2026'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"On 25 September 2026 the court granted the defence motion for sanctions under Rule 11, revoked the lawyer's pro hac vice admission and ordered the lawyer's firm to pay the defendants' reasonable fees and costs, not exceeding $10,000; local counsel was not sanctioned.","causal_attribution":"The sanctions order itself."},{"id":"c5","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'indicates that this is not an instance of mere carelessness.'; 'pattern of neglecting to confirm the accuracy of his'; 'has since implemented citation-verification procedures'; 'completed Continuing Legal Education (\"CLE\") credits on the ethical use of AI'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The court found that continued submission of false or misleading citations after notice was not mere carelessness and showed a pattern of neglecting to confirm the accuracy of submissions; it credited the lawyer's later citation-verification procedures and continuing legal education on the ethical use of AI.","causal_attribution":"The court's findings and its account of mitigation."}],"effects":[{"label":"lawyer's pro hac vice admission revoked and firm ordered to pay up to $10,000 of the defendants' fees","claim_id":"c4","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mad.288446/gov.uscourts.mad.288446.155.0.pdf","kind":"court_record","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in full in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-16 from CourtListener RECAP storage (HTTP 200, text extracted with pdftotext); no translation was needed.","independence_group":"d-mass-case-1-25-cv-12395-sanctions-order"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["justice","work"],"unknowns":["Which AI product was used and how it was prompted","Whether AI was used for the two later oppositions, which the lawyer did not admit","The final amount of fees and costs, to be agreed or reported to the court by 23 October 2026","Whether the plaintiff suffered any consequence from the sanctions or the change of counsel"],"geography":{"basis":"The filings were made in, and the sanctions imposed by, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. Where the lawyer drafted the filings and where the lawyer lives are not used.","court_countries":["US"],"event_countries":["US"],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a documented court sanction. A federal court order records a lawyer's admission that AI drafted a filing with fictitious citations, and the court revoked the lawyer's pro hac vice admission and ordered fees of up to $10,000. The lawyer, the plaintiff and the deceased are not named here.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-16"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The sanctions order records the lawyer's admission that an AI tool was used to draft the 21 November 2025 opposition, which the court found contained a quotation attributed to a case with a fictitious Westlaw citation and other inaccurate citations. The tool's generated draft reached the lawyer, who filed it (communicated_with); the court then sanctioned the lawyer for this and two later filings. The lawyer did not admit AI use for the later filings, and the order does not name the AI product.","status":"supported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Massachusetts federal court revokes an out-of-state lawyer's admission and orders fees after briefs with false citations; the lawyer admitted AI drafted one","summary":"On 25 September 2026 a judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts granted a defence motion for sanctions under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11 against a California-barred lawyer admitted for one case (pro hac vice) to represent the plaintiff. The court found that an opposition the lawyer filed on 21 November 2025 was replete with inaccurate citations, including a quotation attributed to a case with a fictitious Westlaw citation, and that later oppositions cited a non-existent case. In response to the court's order to show cause, the lawyer admitted using AI to draft the first opposition and explained a belief that the enterprise-level AI software in use did not hallucinate cases. The court revoked the lawyer's pro hac vice admission and ordered the lawyer's firm to pay the defendants' reasonable fees and costs, capped at $10,000. The order does not name the AI product.","incidentDate":"2025-11-21","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"day","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2026-09-25","aiSystem":"An unnamed enterprise-level AI software product that the lawyer admitted using to draft a court filing, according to the sanctions order","aiProduct":"Unidentified AI drafting tool","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["professional_harm","legal_harm","financial_loss"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"According to the court's order, a lawyer who admitted using AI to draft a brief that contained fictitious citations had pro hac vice admission revoked, and the lawyer's firm was ordered to pay up to $10,000 of the defendants' fees and costs.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person: the sanctioned lawyer, who admitted using the AI tool (claims c2 and c4). Local counsel was not sanctioned and is not counted. The plaintiff is not counted because the order describes no consequence of the sanctions for the plaintiff.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"US-MA","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"regulatory_action","outcomeStatus":"resolved","primarySourceUrl":"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mad.288446/gov.uscourts.mad.288446.155.0.pdf","primarySourceLabel":"U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, Memorandum and Order on sanctions, Dkt. 155, case 1:25-cv-12395 (25 September 2026)","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-16T03:10:29.878255+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-16T03:10:29.878255+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["united-states","massachusetts","legal-profession","sanction","hallucinated-citations","pro-hac-vice"]},{"id":"2025-sweden-police-say-ai-generated-videos-of-known-doctors-in-health-product-ads-led-to-card-fraud","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Sedan slutet av maj har polisen i region Stockholm fått in flera anmälningar där målsägare blivit lurade i annonsbedrägerier med AI-generade videor föreställande läkare.'; 'De välgjorda filmerna är istället AI-genererade och har skapats av bedragare för att användas i annonser på sociala medier.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Stockholm police said in June 2025 that since the end of May they had received several complaints from people defrauded in advertisement scams using AI-generated videos depicting doctors, and that the videos were AI-generated and made by fraudsters for social media adverts.","causal_attribution":"Stockholm police statement; the police do not say how they established that the videos were AI-generated."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'I klippen ger de råd och förespråkar köp av olika läkemedel eller vitaminer men det är inte de riktiga läkarna'; 'Väl på den bedrägliga hemsidan luras målsägaren att uppge sina kortuppgifter vilket leder till att en betydligt högre summa dras och att även kortuppgifterna stjäls.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"According to the police, the doctors in the clips appear to give advice and recommend medicines or vitamins; viewers who follow the link to a fraudulent site are induced to enter card details, a considerably larger sum is then charged and the card details are stolen.","causal_attribution":"Stockholm police statement describing the complaints."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'I AI-framställda reklamfilmer använder bedragare kända läkare för att komma över svenskars kortuppgifter. Bland profilerna som utnyttjats finns Anders Tegnell och Agnes Wold.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"},{"locator":"'Professorn Agnes Wold och den tidigare statsepidemiologen Anders Tegnell utnyttjas av bedragare som försöker lura till sig pengar via AI-skapade reklamfilmer, rapporterar Dagens Nyheter.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s5"}],"assertion":"Dagens Nyheter reported in June 2025 that fraudsters were using well-known doctors, among them the former state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell and the professor Agnes Wold, in AI-made advertising films to obtain card details.","causal_attribution":"Dagens Nyheter's report (Omni relays it); the AI description of these two doctors' clips is the newspaper's, read alongside the police statement on doctor videos."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'På Facebook finns falska filmer, där det låter och ser ut som att Anders Tegnell medverkar, med Folkhälsomyndighetens logotyp i bakgrunden.'; 'Folkhälsomyndigheten har polisanmält bedrägerierna, och kontaktat företaget Meta, som äger Facebook, med en rättslig begäran om borttagning av de falska filmerna.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The Public Health Agency of Sweden said on 4 July 2025 that fake Facebook films in which the former state epidemiologist appears to speak, with the agency's logo in the background, advertise products said to help with diabetes or asthma; it reported the frauds to the police and sent Meta a legal request to remove the films.","causal_attribution":"The agency's own notice of its complaint and removal request."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Det känns hemskt tråkigt att mitt och myndighetens namn utnyttjas på det här viset, och att bedragare försöker sko sig på utsatta människor som vill ha hjälp med sina hälsoproblem'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'Att man använder sig av mig för att lura dem ännu mer känns väldigt dåligt, säger Anders Tegnell.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"The former state epidemiologist said it was very sad that his and the agency's name were being exploited and that fraudsters were trying to profit from vulnerable people seeking help for health problems.","causal_attribution":"His own statements (agency notice and SVT interview); one witness."},{"id":"c6","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'– Jag blir vansinnig. Det här går tvärtemot allt jag står för, säger Wold.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"},{"locator":"'I Agnes Wolds fall ska det handla om preparat mot parasitinfektioner i blodådror.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s6"}],"assertion":"The professor told Dagens Nyheter of being furious and that the adverts went against everything the professor stands for; in the professor's case the clips reportedly promoted preparations against parasitic infections of the blood vessels.","causal_attribution":"The professor's statements to Dagens Nyheter, relayed by Expressen; one origin."},{"id":"c7","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Polisen hade vid tillfället fått in ett tiotal anmälningar om klippen både från lurade privatpersoner och läkare som utnyttjats.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"SVT, citing Dagens Nyheter, reported that the police had at that time received about ten complaints about the clips, from both defrauded private individuals and doctors whose likeness was used.","causal_attribution":"Police figure given to Dagens Nyheter and relayed by SVT; approximate."},{"id":"c8","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Flera anmälningar har gjorts men utredningarna har lagts ner eftersom man bedömer att brotten begåtts i andra länder.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s5"}],"assertion":"Omni, relaying Dagens Nyheter, reported that several complaints had been made but the investigations had been closed because the offences were judged to have been committed in other countries.","causal_attribution":"Dagens Nyheter's account as relayed by Omni; the DN passage itself was behind the paywall."}],"effects":[{"label":"card details stolen and larger sums charged after viewers followed doctor-video adverts","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"},{"label":"depicted doctors' objection to the use of their likeness, and the agency's complaint to police","claim_id":"c4","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://polisen.se/aktuellt/nyheter/stockholm/2025/juni/aibedragerier/","kind":"official_police_statement","access":"read","language":"sv","translation_note":"Read in Swedish by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-16 and translated by the research agent (an AI) into English; no human translator or reviewer was involved. Stockholm police region news item of 9 June 2025; the live URL returned HTTP 404 on 2026-10-16 and the Internet Archive capture of 19 December 2025 was read in full.","independence_group":"stockholm-police-statement-9-jun-2025"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.folkhalsomyndigheten.se/nyheter-och-press/nyhetsarkiv/2025/juli/varning-for-falska-filmer/","kind":"government_statement","access":"read","language":"sv","translation_note":"Read in Swedish by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-16 and translated by the research agent (an AI) into English; no human translator or reviewer was involved. Public Health Agency of Sweden news notice of 4 July 2025, read in full (HTTP 200).","independence_group":"public-health-agency-notice-4-jul-2025"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.svt.se/nyheter/inrikes/bedragare-anvander-ai-tegnell-i-falsk-reklam","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"sv","translation_note":"Read in Swedish by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-16 and translated by the research agent (an AI) into English; no human translator or reviewer was involved. SVT Nyheter report of 5 July 2025 with its own interview of the former state epidemiologist; its police figures are relayed from Dagens Nyheter. Read in full (HTTP 200).","independence_group":"svt-5-jul-2025"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://www.dn.se/sverige/bedragare-utnyttjar-kanda-lakare-for-att-lura-svenskar/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"sv","translation_note":"Read in Swedish by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-16 and translated by the research agent (an AI) into English; no human translator or reviewer was involved. Dagens Nyheter report of 19 June 2025; only the headline, standfirst and first quotation were readable before the paywall (HTTP 200).","independence_group":"dn-19-jun-2025"},{"id":"s5","url":"https://omni.se/wold-och-tegnell-anvands-av-bedragare-i-ai-filmer/a/Jb99EP","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"sv","translation_note":"Read in Swedish by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-16 and translated by the research agent (an AI) into English; no human translator or reviewer was involved. Omni summary of 19 June 2025 relaying the Dagens Nyheter report; read in full (HTTP 200). Same origin as the DN report.","independence_group":"dn-19-jun-2025"},{"id":"s6","url":"https://www.expressen.se/nyheter/sverige/falsk-tegnell-i-ai-filmer-folkhalsomyndigheten-varnar/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"sv","translation_note":"Read in Swedish by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-16 and translated by the research agent (an AI) into English; no human translator or reviewer was involved. Expressen report of 4 July 2025 relaying the Public Health Agency notice and the Dagens Nyheter interviews; cited here only for the professor's quotation given to DN, so grouped with DN. Read in full (HTTP 200).","independence_group":"dn-19-jun-2025"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["finance","health","privacy"],"unknowns":["How many people were defrauded and how much each lost; the police statement says several complaints and a relayed figure of about ten includes doctors' own complaints.","How the police established that the videos were AI-generated, and which tool was used.","Whether any defrauded complainant saw a video of the two named doctors specifically.","Whether Meta removed the films."],"geography":{"basis":"The complaints were made to the Stockholm police region, and the depicted doctors are a Swedish agency adviser and a Swedish professor. Dagens Nyheter, as relayed by Omni, says the offences were judged to have been committed in other countries, and no source places the adverts' operation, so event countries are left unknown.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":["SE"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a core case (depicted_or_impersonated): the investigating police state that fraudsters' AI-generated videos of doctors in social media adverts led complainants to fraudulent sites where their card details were taken and larger sums charged, and two depicted doctors and a government agency objected. Counts are partial and the AI attribution's technical basis is undisclosed.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-16"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The Stockholm police, who received the complaints, state that the videos depicting doctors in the social media adverts were AI-generated by fraudsters, and that people who followed the adverts to fraudulent sites gave card details, were charged considerably more and had the details stolen. The Public Health Agency says films imitating the former state epidemiologist's appearance and voice are fake and reported them to police. Neither says how the AI generation was established, and no tool is named.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["depicted_or_impersonated"]},"name":"Sweden: police say AI-generated videos of well-known doctors in social media ads led people to fraudulent sites and card fraud; doctors object","summary":"In June 2025 the Stockholm police region warned that since the end of May it had received several complaints from people defrauded through social media adverts with AI-generated videos depicting doctors, who appeared to give advice and recommend medicines or vitamins. According to the police, viewers who followed the adverts to fraudulent websites were induced to enter card details, after which a considerably larger sum was charged and the details were stolen. Dagens Nyheter reported that the doctors used included the former state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell and the professor Agnes Wold, who told the paper of being furious. In July 2025 the Public Health Agency of Sweden said fake Facebook films imitating its former state epidemiologist were advertising products for diabetes or asthma, that it had reported them to the police and had asked Meta to remove them; he said it was sad that fraudsters were exploiting vulnerable people. Dagens Nyheter, as relayed by Omni, reported that the investigations were closed because the offences were judged to have been committed abroad. The number of defrauded people and their losses are not stated, and the police do not say how the AI generation was established.","incidentDate":"2025-05-01","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"single_interaction","reportedDate":"2025-06-09","aiSystem":"Unidentified tool used by fraudsters to generate videos imitating the appearance and voices of well-known Swedish doctors in social media adverts, described by the Stockholm police as AI-generated; no tool is named","aiProduct":"Unidentified video tool","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["financial_loss","psychological_distress"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"The Stockholm police say complainants who followed the adverts entered card details on fraudulent sites, were charged considerably larger sums and had the details stolen; the two depicted doctors objected publicly and the Public Health Agency reported the films to police.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":2,"affectedCountStatus":"partial","affectedCountEvidence":"The two depicted doctors who objected are counted (the professor's statement to Dagens Nyheter; the former state epidemiologist's statements and the agency's complaint). The defrauded complainants are described only as several (police) and, in a relayed figure that also includes doctors, about ten complaints, so they are an unquantified remainder.","victimAgeRange":"unknown","jurisdiction":"SE","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"investigation_opened","outcomeStatus":"resolved","primarySourceUrl":"https://polisen.se/aktuellt/nyheter/stockholm/2025/juni/aibedragerier/","primarySourceLabel":"Swedish Police Authority (Stockholm), 9 June 2025: several complaints about AI frauds on social media","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-16T03:01:44.793594+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-16T03:01:44.793594+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["deepfake_advert","health_product_fraud","card_fraud","doctor_likeness","sweden"]},{"id":"2025-revolut-chatbot-said-loyalty-points-worth-1119-pounds-ombudsman-raised-compensation","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'In September 2025 Mr M got in touch with'; 'Revolut through its chatbot.'; 'It said it would refund £22.38 to his account'; 'and deduct the 1,119 loyalty points he’d earned using that feature.'; 'he was told then that 1,119 points equated to £22.38'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"In September 2025 the customer contacted Revolut through its chatbot to ask for a refund of loyalty points earned through its spare change feature; Revolut said it would refund £22.38 and deduct the 1,119 points, which Revolut later described as the chatbot telling him the points equated to £22.38.","causal_attribution":"Facts set out in the ombudsman's decision."},{"id":"c2","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'The chatbot confirmed it could refund 1,119 points as a one-time goodwill gesture.'; 'It said this had a cash value of £1,119.'; 'chatbot confirmed it had done that.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Four days later the chatbot confirmed it could refund the 1,119 points as a one-time goodwill gesture, said they had a cash value of £1,119, and confirmed it had processed the refund.","causal_attribution":"Facts set out in the ombudsman's decision; the chatbot's own statements."},{"id":"c3","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'A few hours later the chatbot said the'; 'information it had given was incorrect and the refund of £1,119 wasn’t being processed.'; 'Mr M then asked to speak to a ‘live agent’ who confirmed that the refund of £1,119 was'; 'It said it had'; 'issued a refund for £22.38.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Later that day the chatbot said its information was incorrect and the £1,119 refund was not being processed; a live agent then said it was being processed; the next day the chatbot said it had issued £22.38.","causal_attribution":"Facts set out in the ombudsman's decision."},{"id":"c4","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'There’s no doubt Revolut gave Mr M the wrong information.'; 'Revolut misled Mr M'; 'not once but on several occasions over the course of that day.'; 'Mr M was never entitled to £1,119'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The ombudsman found there was no doubt Revolut gave the customer wrong information, repeated later the same day, and that it misled him on several occasions over that day; the ombudsman held he was never entitled to £1,119.","causal_attribution":"The ombudsman's findings."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'He says the financial pressure of'; 'losing the expected refund was substantial and destabilising.'; 'He also gave us a letter from his GP that'; 'confirmed his heightened anxiety, insomnia, headaches, and persistent overthinking.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The customer told the ombudsman the financial pressure of losing the expected refund was substantial and destabilising, and provided a GP letter that, according to the decision, confirmed heightened anxiety, insomnia, headaches and persistent overthinking.","causal_attribution":"The customer's account and his GP's letter as summarised by the ombudsman; the ombudsman also noted he was likely aware the higher figure was wrong."},{"id":"c6","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'I uphold this complaint and direct Revolut Ltd to pay Mr M a further £50 on top of the £50 it’s'; 'already paid him'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Revolut had paid £50; the ombudsman upheld the complaint and directed Revolut to pay a further £50.","causal_attribution":"The ombudsman's final decision."}],"effects":[{"label":"told by the chatbot that his points were worth £1,119 and the refund was processed, then reversed; described financial pressure and anxiety","claim_id":"c5","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/decision/DRN-6062372.pdf","kind":"ombudsman_decision","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-15 from the Financial Ombudsman Service PDF (full text, two pages). The decision names neither the customer (Mr M) nor the date it was issued; it asks for acceptance before 5 February 2026.","independence_group":"financial-ombudsman-service-drn-6062372"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["institutional_use"],"contexts":["finance","everyday_life"],"unknowns":["The date the decision was issued (the text gives only the 5 February 2026 acceptance deadline).","Whether the customer accepted the decision.","The chatbot's technology and the chat transcript.","Where the customer lives."],"geography":{"basis":"The decision is by the Financial Ombudsman Service and amounts are in pounds, but it does not say where the customer lives or where the exchanges took place; no country is recorded from the ombudsman's remit or the currency.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a concrete adverse experience with a bank's chatbot: an ombudsman's final decision records the chatbot's statements that the customer's points were worth £1,119 and the refund was processed, finds that Revolut misled him on several occasions that day, and raises his compensation for the impact.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-15"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The Financial Ombudsman Service's decision sets out what Revolut's chatbot told the customer: that 1,119 loyalty points had a cash value of £1,119, that it could refund them as a goodwill gesture and had processed the refund, and hours later that this was incorrect. A human live agent then also confirmed the £1,119 refund. The ombudsman found Revolut gave him wrong information on several occasions that day and awarded compensation for the impact. The decision calls the system a chatbot and does not describe its technology.","status":"supported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Ombudsman finds Revolut misled a customer after its chatbot said his loyalty points were worth £1,119 and confirmed a refund; compensation raised to £100","summary":"In September 2025 a Revolut customer asked the bank, through its chatbot, to cash in loyalty points he had earned through its spare change feature. According to the Financial Ombudsman Service's final decision (DRN-6062372), the chatbot first said the 1,119 points would be refunded as £22.38; four days later it told him the 1,119 points had a cash value of £1,119, offered that as a one-time goodwill gesture and confirmed it had processed the refund. A few hours later the chatbot said that information was wrong; a live agent then said the £1,119 refund was being processed, and the next day the chatbot said it had issued £22.38. Revolut upheld his complaint and paid £50. The ombudsman found that Revolut gave him the wrong information on several occasions that day, held that he was never entitled to £1,119, and directed Revolut to pay a further £50. The customer said the lost expected refund caused financial pressure, and gave a GP letter describing anxiety and insomnia.","incidentDate":"2025-09-01","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"repeated_interactions","aiSystem":"Revolut's customer chatbot, which answered a customer's requests to cash in loyalty points and stated the refund value and whether it had been processed","aiProduct":"Revolut chatbot","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["psychological_distress"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"According to the Financial Ombudsman Service, Revolut's chatbot told a customer his loyalty points were worth £1,119 and confirmed the refund, then reversed itself; the customer described substantial financial pressure and anxiety, and the ombudsman raised his compensation to £100.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person: the customer whose complaint the Financial Ombudsman Service decided (Mr M in decision DRN-6062372). Exact 1.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"unknown","platformType":"chatbot","outcomeType":"regulatory_action","outcomeStatus":"resolved","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/decision/DRN-6062372.pdf","primarySourceLabel":"Financial Ombudsman Service final decision DRN-6062372 (Revolut Ltd), acceptance deadline 5 February 2026","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-15T03:09:28.982046+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-15T03:09:28.982046+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["customer-service-chatbot","banking","wrong-refund-information","ombudsman-decision","loyalty-points"]},{"id":"2025-alabama-federal-court-disqualifies-three-butler-snow-lawyers-over-chatgpt-fabricated-citations","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'On May 7, 2025, Defendant Dunn filed a motion for leave to take the'; 'Then, at 4:21 p.m. on May 12, 2025, Defendant'; 'In total, there were five problematic citations across two motions'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'filed two motions with five'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"Two motions filed for the defendant, a former Alabama corrections commissioner, on 7 and 12 May 2025 contained five citations that did not exist or did not support the propositions for which they were cited.","causal_attribution":"Established by the court's own review recorded in the sanctions order."},{"id":"c2","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'possibly through the use of generative artificial intelligence.'; 'The next day, Plaintiff'; 'On May 14, 2025, the court granted in part and denied in part'; 'conducted independent searches for each allegedly fabricated citation, to no avail'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'the court has conducted independent searches for each allegedly fabricated citation, to no avail'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The plaintiff's response of 15 May 2025 objected that defence counsel appeared to have fabricated citations, possibly through generative AI; the court searched for each citation without result and ordered the signatories and the firm to show cause.","causal_attribution":"Procedural history documented by the order; the Guardian quotes the same show-cause order."},{"id":"c3","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'In short, attorney Matt Reeves used ChatGPT to obtain'; 'case citations returned by ChatGPT through independent review in Westlaw or'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'failed to verify the case citations returned by ChatGPT through independent review in Westlaw or Pacer before including them'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The lawyers' response stated that partner Matthew Reeves used ChatGPT to obtain case citations for two arguments without verifying them, and Reeves declared that he did not verify the citations ChatGPT returned in Westlaw or PACER.","causal_attribution":"The statements are documented by the order; the AI's role in the citations rests on the lawyers' admission, which the court accepted."},{"id":"c4","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'the court PUBLICLY REPRIMANDS Mr.'; 'them from further participation in this case; and REFERS this matter to the Alabama'; 'the court exercises its discretion not to suspend them from'; 'SANCTION attorneys Daniel J. Chism and Lynette E. Potter, and the law firm'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'Manasco also publicly reprimanded the lawyers; referred them to the Alabama State Bar'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"On 23 July 2025 the court publicly reprimanded three lawyers, disqualified them from the case, referred the matter to the Alabama State Bar and other licensing authorities, declined to suspend them, and released two other lawyers and the firm without sanction.","causal_attribution":"Established by the operative passages of the sanctions order; the ABA Journal relays it."},{"id":"c5","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'reviewed more than 2,400 separate legal'; 'citations across 330 filings.”'; 'revealed no additional “legal citations that were fabricated,”'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'No other instances of incorrect case references were found.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"Butler Snow commissioned an independent review by Morgan Lewis of more than 2,400 citations across 330 filings. A Morgan Lewis partner declared that the review revealed no additional fabricated citations, and the ABA Journal reports that no other incorrect case references were found.","causal_attribution":"The scope of the review and the Morgan Lewis partner's declaration are documented by the order; the ABA Journal relays the finding."},{"id":"c6","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'and in these two instances I did not comply with policy'; 'I would hope your honor would not punish my colleagues'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"At the 21 May 2025 hearing, according to The Guardian, Reeves said he was aware of the limitations on AI use and had not complied with the firm's policy in these two instances, and asked the court not to punish his colleagues.","causal_attribution":"Statements at the hearing as reported by The Guardian."},{"id":"c7","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'knowledge that Matt Reeves utilized generative artificial intelligence to generate'; 'Mr. Cranford is of counsel at Butler Snow'; 'or substantive review of the legal authorities'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The of-counsel lawyer who drafted the motions declared that he had no knowledge that Reeves had used generative AI, and the practice group leader declared that he did not conduct a detailed or substantive review of the legal authorities in the second motion.","causal_attribution":"Declarations summarised and quoted in the sanctions order."}],"effects":[{"label":"three lawyers were publicly reprimanded, disqualified and referred to the state bar over ChatGPT-fabricated citations","claim_id":"c4","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.alnd.179677/gov.uscourts.alnd.179677.204.0.pdf","kind":"court_record","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-15 from the RECAP copy of the 51-page order (HTTP 200, text extracted with pdftotext). The declarations, the hearing transcript (Doc. 200) and the Morgan Lewis report it cites were not read separately.","independence_group":"johnson-v-dunn-nd-ala-sanctions-order"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/24/alabama-prison-lawyers-chatgpt-butler-snow","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in full in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-15 (HTTP 200). The Guardian reports the 21 May 2025 show-cause hearing and quotes the court's order and Reeves's declaration.","independence_group":"guardian-butler-snow-may-2025"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.abajournal.com/news/article/5-fabricated-cases-lead-federal-judge-to-kick-3-butler-snow-lawyers-off-case","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in full in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-15 (HTTP 200). The ABA Journal relays the 23 July 2025 order and Butler Snow's 19 May filing.","independence_group":"johnson-v-dunn-nd-ala-sanctions-order"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use","others_use"],"contexts":["justice","work"],"unknowns":["The outcome of the referral to the Alabama State Bar and other licensing authorities.","Which version of ChatGPT was used and what prompts produced the citations; the order records the partner's description of a search only.","Whether the disqualification delayed the plaintiff's case beyond the 30-day stay the order mentions."],"geography":{"basis":"The motions were filed in, and the sanctions imposed by, the US District Court for the Northern District of Alabama (sanctions order). Where the partner ran the ChatGPT search is not stated, so no event or affected-person country is recorded from the court seat.","court_countries":["US"],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published because the federal sanctions order of 23 July 2025 documents that three defence lawyers were publicly reprimanded, disqualified and referred to the state bar over five fabricated or unsupported citations that the lawyers confirmed were hallucinations of ChatGPT, which one partner had used without verifying.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-15"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The sanctions order records that three defence lawyers confirmed in writing and at a hearing that the citations were hallucinations of ChatGPT, and quotes their joint response that partner Matthew Reeves used ChatGPT to obtain case citations for two arguments without verifying them; Reeves declared that he searched ChatGPT for supporting case law and did not verify the citations it returned. The court found five citations across the two motions that do not exist or do not support the propositions cited, and sanctioned three lawyers for those false statements. The AI output therefore reached the sanctioned filings through the partner's own exchange with ChatGPT (communicated_with). The drafting lawyer declared that he did not know generative AI had been used, and the practice group leader that he did not substantively review the legal authorities.","status":"supported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Alabama federal judge reprimands and disqualifies three Butler Snow lawyers and refers them to the state bar over ChatGPT-fabricated citations (2025)","summary":"In an incarcerated man's lawsuit against Alabama prison officials in the US District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, two motions filed in May 2025 for the defence of a former Alabama corrections commissioner contained five citations that did not exist or did not support the propositions cited. Lawyers of the Butler Snow firm, which the state retains to defend its prisons, told the court that a partner had obtained the citations from ChatGPT and had not verified them. On 23 July 2025 Judge Anna M. Manasco publicly reprimanded three of the firm's lawyers, disqualified them from the case and referred the matter to the Alabama State Bar, and ordered them to give the order to clients, opposing counsel and judges in all their pending cases. She declined to suspend them and released the firm and two other lawyers without sanction.","incidentDate":"2025-05-07","incidentEndDate":"2025-07-23","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"day","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2025-05-24","aiSystem":"ChatGPT, which a Butler Snow partner told the court he used to search for supporting case law; the order records the citations as hallucinations of ChatGPT","aiProduct":"ChatGPT","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["professional_harm","legal_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"According to the court's sanctions order of 23 July 2025, three Butler Snow lawyers were publicly reprimanded, disqualified from the case and referred to the Alabama State Bar after two motions contained citations that the lawyers confirmed were hallucinations of ChatGPT, which one of them had used and not verified.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"established","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":2,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"Three lawyers sanctioned in the 23 July 2025 order: the partner who declared that he used ChatGPT (counted as the AI user) and the drafting lawyer and the practice group leader, whose own use of ChatGPT is not established (counted as other people harmed). The firm and the two lawyers released without sanction are not counted; the plaintiff and the defendant are not counted as harmed by the AI use.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"US","platformType":"assistant","outcomeType":"regulatory_action","outcomeStatus":"resolved","primarySourceUrl":"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.alnd.179677/gov.uscourts.alnd.179677.204.0.pdf","primarySourceLabel":"US District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, Johnson v. Dunn, No. 2:21-cv-01701, Sanctions Order (Doc. 204), 23 July 2025","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-15T03:01:17.679643+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-15T03:01:17.679643+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["alabama","federal-court","prison-litigation","lawyers","fabricated-citations","chatgpt","disqualification","bar-referral"]},{"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":"2025-johannesburg-high-court-refers-applicant-lawyers-to-legal-practice-council-over-ai-tool-fictitious-citations","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'two cases cited in Northbound Processing'; 'were fictitious'; 'the revised version contained two additional incorrect citations'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'heads of argument contained fictitious case citations that appeared to have been generated by artificial intelligence'; 'contained two additional incorrect citations'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"While preparing judgment in Northbound Processing's urgent application against the South African Diamond and Precious Metals Regulator, the acting judge found that two cases cited in the applicant's heads of argument did not exist, and a corrected version supplied by junior counsel contained two further incorrect citations.","causal_attribution":"The judgment as described by ITWeb and by a law-firm alert; both rest on the same judgment, which was not read."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'acknowledged that the non-existent citations likely originated from an AI tool'; 'he had used a tool called'; 'which claimed to be trained solely on South African legal sources'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'counsel acknowledged the use of AI, accepted full responsibility'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"On the court's direct inquiry, junior counsel acknowledged that the non-existent citations likely originated from an AI tool and said a tool called Legal Genius had been used under deadline pressure.","causal_attribution":"Counsel's statement to the court as relayed by ITWeb; the law-firm alert relays the acknowledgment without naming the tool."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'found no intent to deceive the court'; 'be referred to the Legal Practice Council for investigation'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'a referral to the Legal Practice Council for investigation'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The judge accepted the legal team's apologies and found no intent to deceive the court, but ordered that the conduct of Northbound's legal practitioners be referred to the Legal Practice Council for investigation.","causal_attribution":"The court's order as described by both accounts of the judgment."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'While Northbound ultimately succeeded in obtaining the relief sought'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Northbound nevertheless obtained the relief it sought in the application.","causal_attribution":"The law-firm alert's account of the judgment."}],"effects":[{"label":"the applicant's legal practitioners were referred to the Legal Practice Council for investigation over fictitious citations","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.itweb.co.za/article/lawyers-face-probe-for-using-hallucinating-genai-in-court/Pero3MZ3221qQb6m","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). ITWeb reports from court documents it saw; the judgment itself was not available to the agent.","independence_group":"northbound-processing-judgment-zagpjhc"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.cliffedekkerhofmeyr.com/en/news/publications/2025/Practice/Employment-Law/combined-employment-and-knowledge-management-alert-4-july-Another-episode-of-fabricated-citations-real-repercussions-South-African-courts-show-no-tolerance-for-AI-hallucinated-cases","kind":"other","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in full in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-14 from a 2025 Internet Archive capture (the live page returned HTTP 403). A law-firm client alert analysing the same judgment; same origin as ITWeb.","independence_group":"northbound-processing-judgment-zagpjhc"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["justice","work"],"unknowns":["The exact date of the judgment and of the referral order.","How many practitioners were referred and the outcome of any Legal Practice Council investigation.","Which citations Legal Genius produced and whether the tool provider responded."],"geography":{"basis":"The heads were filed in, and the referral ordered by, the Gauteng Division of the High Court, Johannesburg (ITWeb, Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr). Where counsel prepared the heads is not stated, so no event or affected-person country is recorded from the court seat.","court_countries":["ZA"],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published because two accounts of the judgment report that the court referred the applicant's lawyers to the Legal Practice Council after heads of argument cited non-existent cases, and that junior counsel told the court the citations likely came from the AI tool Legal Genius.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-14"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"ITWeb, which saw the court documents, reports that on the court's direct inquiry junior counsel acknowledged that the non-existent citations in the heads of argument likely originated from an AI tool and said a tool called Legal Genius had been used under deadline pressure; Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr's analysis of the judgment says counsel acknowledged the use of AI. The tool's output (citations of cases that do not exist) was filed in the heads, and the court referred the practitioners to the Legal Practice Council because fictitious authorities were placed before it. The attribution rests on counsel's acknowledgment as relayed by these two accounts of the judgment; the judgment itself was not read.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Johannesburg High Court refers a company's lawyers to the Legal Practice Council over fictitious citations that junior counsel said likely came from an AI tool","summary":"In an urgent application by Northbound Processing against the South African Diamond and Precious Metals Regulator, Acting Judge DJ Smit of the Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg, found while preparing judgment that two cases cited in the applicant's heads of argument did not exist. According to ITWeb, which saw the court documents, junior counsel first said a wrong version had been filed, a corrected version was found to contain two further incorrect citations, and on the court's direct inquiry junior counsel acknowledged that the citations likely originated from an AI tool called Legal Genius, used under deadline pressure. The judge accepted the legal team's apologies and found no intent to deceive, but referred the conduct of the applicant's legal practitioners to the Legal Practice Council for investigation (June 2025). The applicant obtained the relief it sought.","incidentDate":"2025-06-01","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2025-07-02","aiSystem":"Legal Genius, an AI legal research tool that junior counsel told the court had been used and which, junior counsel said, claimed to be trained solely on South African legal sources","aiProduct":"Legal Genius (reported)","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["professional_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"According to ITWeb and a law-firm alert on the judgment, the court referred the applicant's legal practitioners to the Legal Practice Council for investigation after heads of argument cited non-existent cases that junior counsel said likely came from the AI tool Legal Genius.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"partial","affectedCountEvidence":"One person counted: the junior counsel who told the court the tool had been used, among the legal practitioners whose conduct was referred. The order refers the practitioners as a group and the sources read do not state how many were referred, so others are unquantified. The applicant company is not counted.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"ZA","platformType":"assistant","outcomeType":"regulatory_action","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.itweb.co.za/article/lawyers-face-probe-for-using-hallucinating-genai-in-court/Pero3MZ3221qQb6m","primarySourceLabel":"ITWeb, 2 July 2025: Lawyers face probe for using hallucinating GenAI in court","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-14T03:03:33.803607+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-14T03:03:33.803607+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["south-africa","johannesburg","high-court","fictitious-citations","legal-practice-council","legal-research-tool"]},{"id":"2025-colorado-federal-court-fines-mypillow-defence-lawyers-over-brief-with-fabricated-citations-after-ai-admission","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'Defendants filed their Brief in Opposition to Plaintiff'; 'the Court identified nearly thirty defective citations in the Opposition'; 'and most egregiously, citation of cases that do not exist'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'and most egregiously, citation of cases that do not exist'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The defendants' opposition to the plaintiff's motion in limine, filed on 25 February 2025 and signed by Kachouroff and DeMaster, contained nearly thirty defective citations, including misquotes and citations of cases that do not exist.","causal_attribution":"Established by the court orders, which record the court's own review of the filed brief."},{"id":"c2","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'Was this motion generated by generative'; 'Initially, I did an outline for myself, and I'; 'drafted a motion, and then we ran it through AI'; 'I personally did not check it'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'Final Pretrial/Trial Preparation Conference held on April 21, 2025'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"At the final pretrial conference on 21 April 2025, asked whether the motion was generated by generative artificial intelligence, Kachouroff said he had drafted it and then ran it through AI, and that he personally did not check the citations.","causal_attribution":"Counsel's statement to the court, quoted from the transcript in the 7 July order; it establishes what counsel said, and the AI's role in the defective citations rests on that statement and the co-counsel declaration."},{"id":"c3","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'believed some of these citations were likely from AI drafts'; 'I do not rely on AI to do legal research or find cases'; 'the use of generative artificial intelligence or gross carelessness by counsel'; 'Nor is this Court persuaded by counsel'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Co-counsel's declaration said Kachouroff had told her he believed some of the citations were likely from AI drafts; counsel also said a wrong draft had been filed by mistake and Kachouroff declared he does not rely on AI to do legal research or find cases. The court was not persuaded by the wrong-draft explanation and found no explanation of how the citations appeared absent generative AI or gross carelessness.","causal_attribution":"The declarations' content and the court's findings are documented by the order; the order does not itself find which tool produced the citations."},{"id":"c4","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'The Court hereby SANCTIONS Christopher I. Kachouroff and the law firm'; 'The Court hereby SANCTIONS Jennifer T. DeMaster in the amount of'; 'this Court does not extend the sanctions to Defendants'; 'no later than August 4, 2025'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'A federal judge ordered two attorneys representing MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell in a Colorado defamation case to pay $3,000 each'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"On 7 July 2025 the court held that Kachouroff and DeMaster violated Rule 11 and sanctioned Kachouroff and his law firm jointly $3,000 and DeMaster $3,000, payable by 4 August 2025, and did not extend the sanctions to Lindell or his companies.","causal_attribution":"Established by the operative part of the 7 July order; NPR relays it."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Kachouroff and DeMaster didn'; 'request for comment'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"NPR reported that Kachouroff and DeMaster did not respond to its request for comment.","causal_attribution":"NPR's own report of its request."}],"effects":[{"label":"two defence lawyers were fined $3,000 each for a brief with fabricated citations that lead counsel said had been run through AI","claim_id":"c4","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCOURTS-cod-1_22-cv-01129/pdf/USCOURTS-cod-1_22-cv-01129-10.pdf","kind":"court_record","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in full in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-14 (HTTP 200). Order of 7 July 2025 (Doc. 383, 20 pages) read in full; the hearing transcript, the declarations and the draft exhibits it cites were not read separately.","independence_group":"coomer-v-lindell-d-colo-sanctions-orders"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCOURTS-cod-1_22-cv-01129/pdf/USCOURTS-cod-1_22-cv-01129-8.pdf","kind":"court_record","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in full in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-14 (HTTP 200). Order to show cause of 23 April 2025 (Doc. 309) read in full.","independence_group":"coomer-v-lindell-d-colo-sanctions-orders"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.npr.org/2025/07/10/nx-s1-5463512/ai-courts-lawyers-mypillow-fines","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 reports the 7 July order and quotes it; it adds that the lawyers did not respond to a request for comment.","independence_group":"coomer-v-lindell-d-colo-sanctions-orders"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use","others_use"],"contexts":["justice","work"],"unknowns":["Which AI tool was used on the brief and which citations it introduced.","Whether either lawyer has faced bar disciplinary proceedings over the brief; the final order imposes fines only."],"geography":{"basis":"The brief was filed in, and the sanctions imposed by, the US District Court for the District of Colorado (both orders). Where the lawyers drafted the brief is not stated, so no event or affected-person country is recorded from the court seat.","court_countries":["US"],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published because the court's 7 July 2025 order documents that two defence lawyers were fined $3,000 each for a brief with nearly thirty defective citations, including non-existent cases, and quotes lead counsel's statement in court that the draft was run through AI and not checked.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-14"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The court's 7 July 2025 order quotes lead counsel's answer at the 21 April 2025 conference that after drafting the motion 'we ran it through AI' and that he did not check the citations, and quotes co-counsel's declaration that he believed some of the citations were likely from AI drafts. The filed brief contained citations of cases that do not exist, and the court found counsel gave no explanation of how those citations appeared absent the use of generative artificial intelligence or gross carelessness; it fined both lawyers for the brief. The AI output is thus connected to the sanctioned filing by counsel's own statements in the court record. Counsel later declared that he does not rely on AI to do legal research or find cases, and the court did not identify the tool.","status":"supported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Colorado federal court fines two MyPillow defence lawyers $3,000 each over a brief with fabricated citations; lead counsel had admitted running it through AI","summary":"In the defamation case Coomer v. Lindell in the US District Court for the District of Colorado, a brief that lawyers for Mike Lindell and MyPillow filed on 25 February 2025 contained nearly thirty defective citations, including citations of cases that do not exist. At a conference on 21 April 2025 lead counsel Christopher Kachouroff told Judge Nina Y. Wang that he had drafted the motion and then 'ran it through AI' and had not personally checked the citations. Counsel later said a wrong draft had been filed by mistake; the court was not persuaded. On 7 July 2025 the court found that he and co-counsel Jennifer DeMaster had violated Rule 11 and fined each $3,000 (Kachouroff jointly with his law firm). The court did not sanction Lindell or his companies.","incidentDate":"2025-02-25","incidentEndDate":"2025-07-07","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"day","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2025-04-23","aiSystem":"A generative AI tool that lead counsel said the draft brief was run through; the court record does not identify which tool was used for this brief","aiProduct":"Unidentified AI drafting tool","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["professional_harm","financial_loss","legal_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"According to the court's 7 July 2025 order, two defence lawyers were found to have violated Rule 11 and were each fined $3,000 after filing a brief with nearly thirty defective citations, including non-existent cases, which lead counsel had said was run through AI.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"Two people sanctioned in the 7 July 2025 order: lead counsel, who told the court the draft was run through AI (counted as the AI user), and co-counsel who signed the brief, whose own use of AI is not established (counted as another person harmed). The law firm is an organisation and is not counted; the defendants were not sanctioned.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"US","platformType":"assistant","outcomeType":"regulatory_action","outcomeStatus":"resolved","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCOURTS-cod-1_22-cv-01129/pdf/USCOURTS-cod-1_22-cv-01129-10.pdf","primarySourceLabel":"US District Court for the District of Colorado, Coomer v. Lindell, order on the order to show cause (Doc. 383), 7 July 2025","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-14T03:03:29.9489+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-14T03:03:29.9489+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["colorado","federal-court","defamation-case","lawyers","fabricated-citations","rule-11-sanction","generative-ai"]},{"id":"2025-selangor-police-say-ai-manipulated-tiktok-video-falsely-linked-former-police-chief-to-datuk-money","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'The police are investigating a viral video showing an individual resembling former inspector-general of police Tan Sri Acryl Sani Abdullah, allegedly linked to the receipt of financial aid from a person with the title'; 'Selangor police chief Datuk Hussein Omar Khan said the video, which began circulating on the TikTok social media platform on June 20, was fake and had been manipulated using artificial intelligence (AI) technology.'; 'is completely untrue and baseless.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"A video that began circulating on TikTok on 20 June 2025 showed an individual resembling the former inspector-general of police and purportedly linked him to receiving financial assistance from a person titled 'Datuk'; Selangor police said it was fake, manipulated using AI, and untrue.","causal_attribution":"Investigating police's statement relayed by Bernama; the basis for the AI description is not disclosed."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Hussein said Acryl Sani had lodged a police report denying that the video contained any official statement from him.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The former inspector-general of police lodged a police report denying that the video contained any official statement from him.","causal_attribution":"Police statement relayed by Bernama."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'The case is being investigated under Section 419 of the Penal Code and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.'; 'Firm action will be taken against those involved in spreading this fake content,'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Police are investigating under Section 419 of the Penal Code and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 and said firm action would be taken against those spreading the content.","causal_attribution":"Police statement relayed by Bernama."}],"effects":[{"label":"falsely depicted in an AI-manipulated video as receiving money","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"},{"label":"lodged a police report denying the video","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2025/06/22/selangor-cops-probe-deepfake-video-falsely-linking-ex-igp-acryl-sani-to-datuk-money-scam/181215","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-13 (HTTP 200). Malay Mail publication of a Bernama report of a Selangor police statement, first published 22 June 2025 9:03 MYT.","independence_group":"bernama-selangor-police-statement"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["justice","everyday_life"],"unknowns":["How police established that the video was manipulated using AI; the tool is not named","Who made and posted the video, and how widely it spread","Whether anyone acted on the video or lost money in connection with it","The outcome of the police investigation"],"geography":{"basis":"Event: Selangor police (Subang Jaya district) are investigating the circulation of the video under Malaysian law, and the depicted person is Malaysia's former inspector-general of police who lodged a report with them; where the video was made or posted from is unknown. No court is involved.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["MY"],"affected_person_countries":["MY"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a reported single-chain case: Selangor police, the investigating force, said a TikTok video circulating from 20 June 2025 that falsely linked former inspector-general of police Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani to receiving money from a 'Datuk' was fake and manipulated using AI; he lodged a police report denying it, and police opened an investigation. The police statement does not disclose the technical basis for the AI description. He is named as a public official in a matter concerning his public role.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-13"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"Selangor police chief Hussein Omar Khan, whose force is investigating the case, said the video showing an individual resembling the former inspector-general of police was fake and had been manipulated using artificial intelligence technology. The AI-manipulated video depicts him (depicted_or_impersonated) and carried the false claim that he received money, which led him to lodge a police report. The statement does not disclose the technical basis for the AI description or name the tool.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["depicted_or_impersonated"]},"name":"Malaysia: Selangor police say a TikTok video falsely linking ex-police chief Acryl Sani to money from a 'Datuk' was AI-manipulated; he filed a report","summary":"Malay Mail, carrying a Bernama report of a Selangor police statement, reports that police were investigating a video that began circulating on TikTok on 20 June 2025. It showed an individual resembling former inspector-general of police Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani and purportedly linked him to receiving financial assistance from a person titled 'Datuk', with the money deposited into a bank account. Selangor police chief Hussein Omar Khan said the video was fake and had been manipulated using artificial intelligence, that the claims were untrue and baseless, and that the former police chief never issued any statement as depicted. Acryl Sani lodged a police report denying that the video contained any official statement from him. Police opened an investigation under Section 419 of the Penal Code and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998. The statement does not say how police established that AI was used, and the tool is not named.","incidentDate":"2025-06-20","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"day","exposurePattern":"single_interaction","reportedDate":"2025-06-22","aiSystem":"AI used to manipulate a video depicting the former inspector-general of police, as Selangor police describe it (tool not identified)","aiProduct":"Unidentified video tool","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["reputational_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"According to Selangor police, a video they say was manipulated using AI falsely linked the former inspector-general of police to receiving money from a 'Datuk'; he lodged a police report denying it.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person: the former inspector-general of police depicted in the video, who lodged a police report denying it. The 'Datuk' named in the video and any viewers are not counted; no consequence is reported for them.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"MY","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"investigation_opened","outcomeStatus":"unknown","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2025/06/22/selangor-cops-probe-deepfake-video-falsely-linking-ex-igp-acryl-sani-to-datuk-money-scam/181215","primarySourceLabel":"Malay Mail (Bernama), 22 June 2025: Selangor cops probe deepfake video falsely linking ex-IGP Acryl Sani to 'Datuk' money scam","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-13T03:04:28.338377+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-13T03:04:28.338377+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["ai-manipulated-video","tiktok","police-statement","public-official","reputational-harm","malaysia","selangor","depicted-or-impersonated"]},{"id":"2025-quebec-appeal-court-costs-self-represented-appellant-ai-drafted-filings-nonexistent-judgments","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'Elle réclame aussi 10 000 $ en dommages-intérêts'; 'références juridiques inexistantes générées par l’intelligence artificielle dans ses actes de procédure'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The respondent asked the Court of Appeal for $10,000 in damages, alleging that the appellant had included non-existent legal references generated by artificial intelligence in his filings.","causal_attribution":"The decision documents that the respondent made this request; the allegation is hers."},{"id":"c2","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'parce qu’il a utilisé l’intelligence artificielle pour la rédaction'; 'déclaration d’appel et de son exposé, qui comportent deux références à des arrêts inexistants et une référence inexacte quant à un paragraphe cité'; 'L’appelant a contrevenu à cet Avis de la Juge en chef'; 'une forme de négligence plutôt que de la mauvaise foi'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Ruling on the respondent's request, the court described the appellant's notice of appeal and brief as written with artificial intelligence and as containing two references to non-existent judgments and one inaccurate reference to a cited paragraph, and found that he had breached the Chief Justice's notice on AI use through negligence rather than bad faith.","causal_attribution":"Finding stated in the Court of Appeal decision of 1 October 2026; the decision does not name the tool."},{"id":"c3","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'une telle connaissance de la part de l’appelant n’a pas été démontrée'; 'il y a lieu de le condamner aux frais de justice en vertu de l’article 340 C.p.c.'; 'en matière familiale, de chacune'; 'REJETTE la demande visant à sanctionner un manquement au déroulement'; 'LE TOUT, avec les frais de justice en faveur de l’intimée.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Because knowledge of the invented references was not shown, the court rejected the separate monetary sanction but ordered court costs against the appellant under article 340 C.p.c. to sanction the conduct.","causal_attribution":"Disposition stated in the decision; the costs are the court's response to the AI-drafted filings."},{"id":"c4","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'ACCUEILLE en partie l’appel'; 'peine de 100 heures de travail d’utilité sociale'; 'une mesure coercitive d’emprisonnement de 30 jours'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"On the merits the court partly allowed the appeal for reasons unrelated to AI and reduced the contempt penalty to 100 hours of community work and 30 days of coercive imprisonment.","causal_attribution":"Disposition stated in the decision; the contempt arose from non-compliance with family-court orders, not from AI use."}],"effects":[{"label":"a self-represented appellant was ordered to pay court costs because his AI-drafted appeal filings cited non-existent judgments","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.damiencharlotin.com/documents/3266/Droit-de-la-famille-261553-2026-QCCA-1300.pdf","kind":"court_record","access":"read","language":"fr","translation_note":"Read in full in French by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-12 from the copy of the decision hosted by the AI Hallucination Cases database (PDF, HTTP 200, text extracted with pdftotext); the English assertions are the agent's translation and no human translator or reviewer was involved. The locators quote the French original.","independence_group":"qcca-2026-qcca-1300-decision"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["justice","relationships"],"unknowns":["Which AI tool the appellant used and what it produced beyond the two non-existent judgments and the inaccurate paragraph reference.","The amount of the court costs ordered against the appellant.","Whether the appellant has complied with the underlying orders or served the coercive imprisonment."],"geography":{"basis":"The appeal was heard and decided by the Quebec Court of Appeal from a Quebec Superior Court judgment (decision caption and paragraph 1), and the filings were made in that court. The decision states no residence for the appellant, so affected_person_countries is left empty.","court_countries":["CA"],"event_countries":["CA"],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published on the court's own decision: the Quebec Court of Appeal described a self-represented appellant's appeal filings as written with AI and as citing non-existent judgments, held that he had breached its AI notice and ordered costs against him. The facts are documented by the decision; the appellant is a private party in a family matter and is not identified.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-12"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"Ruling on the respondent's request (paragraph 28), the Quebec Court of Appeal decision describes the appellant's notice of appeal and brief as written with artificial intelligence and as containing two references to non-existent judgments and an inaccurate paragraph reference. The court treated that AI drafting and those references as established: it held that he had breached its AI notice (paragraph 30), contrasted his lack of shown knowledge of the hallucinations with an earlier case (paragraphs 31-32) and ordered costs against him for that reason. The AI output reached him as drafted text he filed (communicated_with) and informed the court's costs decision about him (informed_decision_about). The decision does not identify the tool or quote its output.","status":"supported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with","informed_decision_about"]},"name":"Quebec Court of Appeal orders costs against a self-represented appellant whose AI-drafted filings cited two non-existent judgments (1 Oct 2026)","summary":"On 1 October 2026 the Quebec Court of Appeal ordered court costs against a self-represented appellant in a family-law contempt appeal as a sanction for appeal filings that, in the court's description, he had written with artificial intelligence and that contained two references to non-existent judgments and one inaccurate reference to a cited paragraph. The court held that AI may be used to draft appeal filings only if the litigant verifies the authorities, found that he had breached the Chief Justice's notice on AI use, and described his conduct as negligence rather than bad faith. It rejected the respondent's request for a separate $10,000 sanction and, for reasons unrelated to AI, reduced the contempt penalty imposed at first instance. The decision does not name the AI tool.","incidentDate":"2025-12-15","incidentEndDate":"2026-10-01","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"day","exposurePattern":"single_interaction","reportedDate":"2026-10-01","aiSystem":"Artificial intelligence, not identified in the decision, which the self-represented appellant used to draft his notice of appeal and brief","aiProduct":"Unidentified AI drafting tool","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["legal_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"The Quebec Court of Appeal ordered court costs against the self-represented appellant as a sanction for filings he drafted with AI that cited non-existent judgments, holding that he breached the court's AI notice through negligence (2026 QCCA 1300, 1 October 2026). The amount of the costs is not stated.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person: the self-represented appellant who used AI to draft the filings and against whom costs were ordered. The respondent and other family members are not counted as harmed by the AI-related sanction.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"CA","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"regulatory_action","outcomeStatus":"resolved","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.damiencharlotin.com/documents/3266/Droit-de-la-famille-261553-2026-QCCA-1300.pdf","primarySourceLabel":"Quebec Court of Appeal, Droit de la famille — 261553, 2026 QCCA 1300, 1 October 2026 (copy hosted by the AI Hallucination Cases database)","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-12T03:17:20.356128+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-12T03:17:20.356128+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["hallucinated_citations","courts","self_represented_litigant","costs_order","family_law","canada","quebec"]},{"id":"2025-ontario-lawyer-chatgpt-factum-invented-cases-contempt-referral-licence-suspension","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'On May 1, the applicant’s counsel presented a motion seeking relief in this application. During oral submissions, she delivered a factum and cited cases to support the applicant’s arguments.'; 'The judge asked the lawyer if AI like ChatGPT supported the preparation of the factum. She said she would have to ask her clerk.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'After the hearing, the judge again reviewed the factum and found two more incorrect citations — one to a non-existent case and another to a case that stood for the opposite proposition than that for which it had been cited.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'When Justice Myers confronted her in open court about whether she had used ChatGPT, she categorically denied it, stating, “I did not.”'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"},{"locator":"'whether she had used ChatGPT to write her factum'; 'said she had not.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s7"}],"assertion":"At a motion hearing on 1 May 2025 in an Ontario Superior Court of Justice estate and family-law application, the applicant’s lawyer relied in writing and orally on a factum citing cases that the judge could not find or that did not support the propositions cited; asked whether AI such as ChatGPT had been used, the lawyer said, according to Canadian Lawyer and LawSites, that she would have to ask her clerk, while Law360 Canada and the tribunal reasons as reported by Law Times say she denied using ChatGPT.","causal_attribution":"Account of the court’s first endorsement (2025 ONSC 2766) as relayed by two legal-press outlets, with the lawyer’s answer in court given differently by Law360 Canada and by the tribunal reasons as reported by Law Times; the endorsement itself was not read."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'factum may have been created by AI and that before filing the factum and relying on it in court, she might not have checked to make sure the cases were real'; 'the judge ordered the attorney to show cause why she should not be cited for contempt.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'counsel was ordered to return for a show cause hearing to argue why she should not be cited for contempt of court'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"The judge found that the factum appeared to have been created by AI and not checked, and ordered the lawyer to show cause why she should not be cited for contempt of court.","causal_attribution":"The court’s own statement, as quoted by LawSites and summarised by Cassels."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'At an informal scheduling conference on May 16, 2025, counsel was forthright in admitting her error and provided an explanation.'; 'In a written decision released on May 20, 2025, the Court found it unnecessary to continue with contempt proceedings'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'explaining that her staff had used ChatGPT to prepare the factum without her knowledge. She apologized for the mistake and promised to complete at least six hours of continuing professional education in legal ethics and technology.'; 'suffered a public shaming near the end of an unblemished career,'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s7"}],"assertion":"After telling the court that her staff had used ChatGPT to prepare the factum without her knowledge, apologising and undertaking continuing professional education, the lawyer had the show-cause order withdrawn in a decision released on 20 May 2025, which noted that she had suffered a public shaming near the end of an unblemished career.","causal_attribution":"The court’s second decision (2025 ONSC 2965) as summarised by Cassels and recited in the tribunal reasons reported by Law Times."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'admitting the truth: there was no student.'; 'The new disclosure raises issues of deception of the court in a contempt of court proceeding. The procedural context and the quality of the acts are very different.'; 'the court appointed amicus curiae Dean Embry to ensure'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"},{"locator":"'revealing that she alone prepared the AI-assisted factum, reversing her prior claim that others were involved. The court treated this as a fresh act of potential contempt and referred the matter to the Attorney General.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s5"}],"assertion":"On 30 September 2025 the lawyer wrote to the court that she alone had prepared the factum using ChatGPT and that her earlier account blaming staff was untrue; on 4 December 2025 the court referred the matter to the Attorney General of Ontario for criminal contempt proceedings and appointed an amicus curiae.","causal_attribution":"The court’s third decision (2025 ONSC 6785) as described by Law360 Canada and WeirFoulds; both relay the same decision."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'will have her license to practise law suspended for six months starting July 17. The tribunal'; 'to pay $10,000 to the Law Society of Ontario'; 'containing only non-existent or irrelevant case law generated by an artificial intelligence tool” and later lying to the court about not using the tool.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s6"}],"assertion":"On 16 July 2026 the Law Society Tribunal suspended the lawyer’s licence for six months from 17 July and ordered her to pay $10,000 to the Law Society of Ontario, finding that she relied on a factum containing only non-existent or irrelevant case law generated by an AI tool and later lied to the court about not using the tool.","causal_attribution":"The tribunal’s order as reported by Law Times; the order itself was not read."},{"id":"c6","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'the lawyer failed to serve her client in a family law matter by using ChatGPT to prepare a factum containing AI-hallucinated case citations and arguments.'; 'Later, she admitted that she had prepared the factum herself and did not know hallucinations existed until Myers confronted her about her submissions.'; 'we are extremely troubled by the lawyer’s subsequent repeated lies to the court and to the law society'; 'had little to no prior experience with ChatGPT'; 'That case remains ongoing.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s7"}],"assertion":"The tribunal’s reasons, as reported, say the lawyer failed to serve her client by using ChatGPT to prepare a factum containing hallucinated citations and arguments, that she had prepared the factum herself with little or no prior experience of ChatGPT, that her repeated lies to the court and the Law Society troubled the tribunal more than the reliance, and that the criminal contempt case remained ongoing.","causal_attribution":"The tribunal’s reasons as reported by Law Times; the reasons themselves were not read."}],"effects":[{"label":"show-cause order for contempt, referral for criminal contempt and a six-month licence suspension after relying on ChatGPT-generated nonexistent case law","claim_id":"c5","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.canadianlawyermag.com/practice-areas/family/superior-court-says-family-law-case-factum-may-have-fake-legal-citations-due-to-ai-hallucinations/392433","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in full in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-12; no translation was involved and no human reviewer read it. Canadian Lawyer, 13 May 2025, reporting the first endorsement (2025 ONSC 2766); HTTP 200. The endorsement itself (CanLII) returned 403 live and from the Internet Archive.","independence_group":"ontario-superior-court-endorsements-2025"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.lawnext.com/2025/05/ai-hallucinations-strike-again-two-more-cases-where-lawyers-face-judicial-wrath-for-fake-citations.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in full in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-12; no translation was involved and no human reviewer read it. LawSites (LawNext), 14 May 2025, summarising the same endorsement; HTTP 200.","independence_group":"ontario-superior-court-endorsements-2025"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://cassels.com/insights/fantasies-in-the-footnotes-ontario-court-rebukes-counsel-for-fake-and-misleading-ai-generated-case-citations/","kind":"legal_commentary","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in full in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-12; no translation was involved and no human reviewer read it. Cassels law-firm commentary, 23 May 2025, summarising 2025 ONSC 2766 and 2025 ONSC 2965; HTTP 200.","independence_group":"ontario-superior-court-endorsements-2025"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://www.law360.ca/ca/articles/2419185","kind":"legal_commentary","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in full in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-12; no translation was involved and no human reviewer read it. Law360 Canada analysis, 8 Dec 2025, describing 2025 ONSC 6785 and quoting it; HTTP 200 (full text served).","independence_group":"ontario-superior-court-endorsements-2025"},{"id":"s5","url":"https://www.weirfoulds.com/pdf-article?id=36828","kind":"legal_commentary","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in full in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-12; no translation was involved and no human reviewer read it. WeirFoulds law-firm article PDF, 23 Dec 2025, on 2025 ONSC 6785; HTTP 200, text extracted with pdftotext.","independence_group":"ontario-superior-court-endorsements-2025"},{"id":"s6","url":"https://www.lawtimesnews.com/resources/professional-regulation/law-society-tribunal-temporarily-suspends-lawyers-license-after-finding-she-lied-about-chatgpt-use/393450","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in full in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-12; no translation was involved and no human reviewer read it. Law Times, 16 Jul 2026, on the Law Society Tribunal order; HTTP 200.","independence_group":"law-society-tribunal-order-and-reasons-2026"},{"id":"s7","url":"https://www.lawtimesnews.com/resources/professional-regulation/out-of-character-tribunal-explains-six-month-suspension-of-lawyer-who-lied-about-chatgpt-use/393453","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in full in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-12; no translation was involved and no human reviewer read it. Law Times, 21 Jul 2026, on the tribunal reasons; HTTP 200. The tribunal order and reasons themselves were not read.","independence_group":"law-society-tribunal-order-and-reasons-2026"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["justice","work"],"unknowns":["The outcome of the criminal contempt proceeding referred to the Attorney General; the latest source read (21 July 2026) says it remained ongoing.","Whether the client suffered any concrete consequence in the estate application; the tribunal found the lawyer failed to serve her client but no source read describes an effect on the case.","Which ChatGPT version was used and what prompts produced the citations.","The court endorsements and the tribunal order and reasons were not read directly (CanLII returned 403); all claims rest on legal-press and law-firm accounts of them."],"geography":{"basis":"The factum was filed and argued at a hearing of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, and the lawyer is described as a Toronto lawyer licensed by the Law Society of Ontario, whose tribunal suspended her.","court_countries":["CA"],"event_countries":["CA"],"affected_person_countries":["CA"]},"publication":{"basis":"Legal-press and law-firm accounts of three Ontario Superior Court decisions and a Law Society Tribunal order describe a lawyer who relied on ChatGPT-generated nonexistent case law in a factum, was ordered to show cause for contempt, later admitted she alone had used ChatGPT and had misled the court, was referred for criminal contempt and was suspended for six months.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-12"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The lawyer told the court in September 2025 that she alone prepared the factum using ChatGPT, and the Law Society Tribunal, as reported by Law Times, found that she relied on a factum containing only non-existent or irrelevant case law generated by an AI tool and that she used ChatGPT to prepare it. ChatGPT’s output (citations to cases that do not exist or do not support the propositions) reached the lawyer, who filed it and relied on it orally at the 1 May 2025 hearing; the court’s contempt proceedings and the tribunal’s suspension followed from that reliance and from her later false account of it. The tribunal’s main concern was her dishonesty, which is a separate act by the lawyer.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Ontario: lawyer who relied on ChatGPT-invented case law in a factum was referred for criminal contempt and suspended for six months, legal press reports","summary":"An Ontario lawyer relied, at a 1 May 2025 Superior Court hearing in an estate and family-law matter, on a factum citing cases that do not exist or do not support the propositions cited. The judge ordered her to show cause why she should not be cited for contempt, then withdrew the order on 20 May 2025 after she said her staff had used ChatGPT without her knowledge. On 30 September 2025 she told the court that she alone had prepared the factum with ChatGPT and that her earlier account was untrue; the court referred the matter to Ontario’s Attorney General for criminal contempt proceedings in December 2025. In July 2026 the Law Society Tribunal suspended her licence for six months, finding she relied on AI-generated non-existent case law and lied about it. The account comes from legal-press and law-firm reports of the decisions; the criminal contempt case was still ongoing at the last report read.","incidentDate":"2025-05-01","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"day","exposurePattern":"single_interaction","reportedDate":"2025-05-13","aiSystem":"ChatGPT, which the lawyer admitted using to prepare the factum and which the Law Society Tribunal found generated the non-existent or irrelevant case law","aiProduct":"ChatGPT","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["professional_harm","legal_harm","reputational_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"According to legal-press reports of the court and tribunal decisions, the lawyer faced a contempt show-cause order and a referral for criminal contempt, and the Law Society Tribunal suspended her licence for six months and ordered her to pay $10,000 to the Law Society of Ontario; the court noted she had suffered a public shaming near the end of an unblemished career.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person, the lawyer who used ChatGPT, is reported to have suffered the contempt proceedings and the suspension. The tribunal found she failed to serve her client, but no source read describes a concrete consequence for the client, who is not counted.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"CA","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"regulatory_action","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.lawtimesnews.com/resources/professional-regulation/out-of-character-tribunal-explains-six-month-suspension-of-lawyer-who-lied-about-chatgpt-use/393453","primarySourceLabel":"Law Times, 21 Jul 2026: tribunal explains six-month suspension of lawyer who lied about ChatGPT use","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-12T03:13:48.661937+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-12T03:13:48.661937+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["hallucinated_citations","courts","lawyer_sanction","contempt_of_court","professional_discipline","canada","ontario"]},{"id":"2025-uk-upper-tribunal-judicial-review-grounds-false-citations-supervising-solicitor-referred-to-sra","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'lodged judicial review proceedings in the Upper Tribunal'; 'What causes me to make that order are the “authorities” cited at [10], [17], [18], and [32] of the grounds.'; 'and no case with the citation [2010] UKUT 35 (IAC) even exists'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Judicial review grounds lodged in the Upper Tribunal on 26 June 2025 cited four authorities that the judge could not find or that carried wrong citations, including one citation that does not exist.","causal_attribution":"Judge's order of 20 August 2025 as set out in the judgment."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'may have relied on false citations which were generated by AI, as'; 'accepted he had done in this case'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The tribunal recorded that the supervising solicitor accepted that the junior fee-earner had relied on false citations generated by AI in this case.","causal_attribution":"The tribunal's record of the solicitor's acceptance (the judgment does not say when or in what words he accepted it); no tool, prompt or output is identified."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'he relied on an outdated precedent on our system, practitioner blogs and personal notes'; 'we were concerned by the suggestion in the statements made by'; 'that the citation errors might have been caused by an “old precedent from previous cases”'; 'He stated that there was no mechanism by which staff at his firm could use AI.'; 'He said that he had, and that he had deleted it.'; 'was unable to offer a clear answer to that question'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The solicitor's written explanation of 26 September 2025 said the fee-earner relied on an outdated precedent, practitioner blogs and personal notes, and the tribunal recorded that signed statements by both men suggested the errors might have been caused by an old precedent. At the hearing the solicitor said staff at the firm had no mechanism to use AI, and said he had found and deleted the precedent but could not say what it was.","causal_attribution":"The solicitor's and the fee-earner's own accounts as recorded in the judgment; contrary evidence on the AI origin. The solicitor could not identify the precedent ([53])."},{"id":"c4","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'we consider that the inclusion of false citations in the grounds for judicial review and'; 'necessitates a referral to the SRA'; 'It matters not how such citation errors come about.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The tribunal referred the supervising solicitor to the Solicitors Regulation Authority because the grounds included false citations and he had failed to supervise their drafting, and said it does not matter how such citation errors come about.","causal_attribution":"Decision stated in the judgment promulgated on 17 November 2025."},{"id":"c5","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'has now been amended so as to require a legal representative to confirm by a statement of truth that any authority cited within the form'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The judgment states that the Upper Tribunal judicial review claim form has been amended to require a legal representative to confirm by a statement of truth that any cited authority exists, can be located with the citation given and supports the proposition for which it is cited.","causal_attribution":"Statement in the judgment's headnote and conclusions."},{"id":"c6","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'He refused permission for reasons which we need not set out.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Permission to apply for judicial review was refused on 20 August 2025 for reasons the judgment does not set out.","causal_attribution":"Judgment; the refusal is not connected to the citations."}],"effects":[{"label":"supervising solicitor referred to the SRA over false citations in judicial review grounds drafted by a junior fee-earner","claim_id":"c4","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukut/iac/2026/81","kind":"court_record","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Full judgment text read in English by the research agent (an AI) on Find Case Law (HTTP 200); no translation was involved and no human reviewer read it.","independence_group":"ukut-2026-81-judgment"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["justice","work"],"unknowns":["Which AI tool generated the false citations, and what was asked of it; the judgment records only the solicitor's acceptance.","Whether the junior fee-earner used an AI tool: he did not attend the hearing, and the statements he and the solicitor signed suggested an old precedent as the source of the errors.","What action, if any, the Solicitors Regulation Authority has taken on the referral.","Whether other files the fee-earner worked on contain false citations; the tribunal said it was likely but unestablished."],"geography":{"basis":"Event: the grounds were lodged in the Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber), the Hamid hearing was held at Field House and the referral is to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (judgment). Court: the Upper Tribunal. The solicitor's residence is not stated.","court_countries":["GB"],"event_countries":["GB"],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published on the Upper Tribunal's own judgment: false citations in judicial review grounds led the tribunal to refer the supervising solicitor to the SRA, and the tribunal records his acceptance that the junior fee-earner relied on AI-generated citations. The referral is documented; the AI origin is reported and the solicitor's earlier contrary accounts are recorded. The solicitor, the fee-earner and the applicant are private persons and are not named in the public text.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-12"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The judgment records that the solicitor accepted that the junior fee-earner had relied on false citations generated by AI in this case ([52]), and the tribunal referred him to the SRA because the grounds included those false citations and he had failed to supervise their drafting ([56]). The false authorities reached the tribunal in the grounds; the judge identified them, ordered the show cause process and the panel acted on them in deciding to refer the solicitor (informed_decision_about). The AI origin rests on that recorded acceptance and on the tribunal's reference to his failure to put checks in place 'to ensure that the use of AI did not mislead the tribunal' ([46]). Against it, his written explanation had named an outdated precedent, practitioner blogs and personal notes, the statements he and the fee-earner signed suggested an old precedent, which he said he had deleted and could not describe ([53]), at the hearing he said staff had no mechanism to use AI, and the tribunal said the source of the errors does not matter to the referral. No tool or output is identified.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["informed_decision_about"]},"name":"UK Upper Tribunal refers a supervising solicitor to the SRA over false citations in judicial review grounds; tribunal records he accepted they were AI-generated","summary":"Judicial review grounds lodged in the Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) on 26 June 2025 by a solicitors' firm cited four authorities that the judge could not find or that carried wrong citations and propositions. The firm's compliance officer, a solicitor whose name was on the claim form, said a junior fee-earner had drafted the grounds under his supervision; his written explanation named an outdated precedent, practitioner blogs and personal notes as the sources. After a Hamid hearing on 5 November 2025, the tribunal recorded that he accepted the fee-earner had relied on false citations generated by AI, and in a judgment promulgated on 17 November 2025 it referred him to the Solicitors Regulation Authority for the false citations and his failure to supervise. The tribunal said it does not matter how such errors come about. It also announced that the Upper Tribunal judicial review claim form now requires a statement of truth that cited authorities exist and support the propositions they are cited for.","incidentDate":"2025-06-26","incidentEndDate":"2025-11-17","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"day","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2025-11-17","aiSystem":"Unidentified AI tool that, according to the tribunal's record of the solicitor's acceptance, generated the false citations a junior fee-earner relied on; no tool is named","aiProduct":"Unidentified AI tool","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["professional_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"The supervising solicitor was put through a show cause order and a Hamid hearing and referred to the Solicitors Regulation Authority for false citations in grounds drafted by a junior fee-earner and for failing to supervise ([2026] UKUT 81 (IAC), promulgated 17 November 2025). The AI origin of the citations rests on the tribunal's record that he accepted it; his written explanation had named other sources.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person: the supervising solicitor referred to the SRA. He is not counted as an AI user, because the judgment records the junior fee-earner's reliance on AI-generated citations. The fee-earner, who had left the firm and did not attend, and the applicant, whose permission refusal the judgment does not connect to the citations, are not counted.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"GB","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"regulatory_action","outcomeStatus":"pending","primarySourceUrl":"https://caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukut/iac/2026/81","primarySourceLabel":"Find Case Law, [2026] UKUT 81 (IAC), UK v SSHD (AI hallucinations; supervision; Hamid), promulgated 17 November 2025","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-12T03:12:31.6959+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-12T03:12:31.6959+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["ai-hallucination","fabricated-citations","legal","immigration","tribunal","supervision","sra-referral","united-kingdom"]},{"id":"2025-north-carolina-federal-prosecutor-ai-drafted-brief-fabricated-quotations-reprimand","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"This filing misquoted a Fourth Circuit case, falsely attributed quotes to other cases and incorrectly described the court’s decision in several cases that he relied upon to support his argument, Numbers said.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"Numbers' list of problematic conduct includes fabricated quotes, misrepresentations of previous cases","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"filed a response with the court including “fabricated quotations and misstatements of case holdings”","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"A response brief filed in December 2025 by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rudy Renfer for the Department of Defense in Fivehouse v. U.S. Department of Defense misquoted a Fourth Circuit case, attributed quotes to cases that did not contain them and misdescribed the holdings of several cases, according to Magistrate Judge Robert T. Numbers II's orders as reported by the News & Observer and Courthouse News.","causal_attribution":"The court attributed the false quotations to the brief Renfer signed; the fabricated authority is the AI-related artifact in this case."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"flagged fabricated quotes and inaccurate descriptions of court cases in a brief Renfer filed earlier that month.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"In a January court filing, Renfer attributed the errors to an \"inadvertent filing of an unfinalized draft.\"","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Fivehouse pointed out the errors in his reply.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"The self-represented plaintiff, a retired Air Force colonel, identified the fabricated quotes and inaccurate case descriptions in his reply at the end of December 2025, and Renfer then attributed the errors to the inadvertent filing of an unfinalized draft.","causal_attribution":"none asserted"},{"id":"c3","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"the court orders Assistant United States Attorney Rudy E. Renfer to appear and show cause why he should not be sanctioned. The show cause hearing will be held on Tuesday, March 10, 2026","relation":"supports","source_id":"s5"},{"locator":"must appear at a show-cause hearing this week","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"On 2 March 2026 the court ordered Renfer to appear on 10 March 2026 and show cause why he should not be sanctioned under Rule 11(b)(2) and the court's inherent authority, and asked leadership of the U.S. Attorney's Office to attend.","causal_attribution":"none asserted"},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Renfer then admitted to using AI to draft the brief","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"he thought he had edited and fact-checked the brief that AI helped draft. In reality, he sent an unfinished draft to his assistant, directing her to file it","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"He told the court that he accidentally saved a new file over the original draft of the brief, “panicked,” and used artificial intelligence to catch up.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"At the 10 March 2026 hearing Renfer said under oath that, after accidentally saving over his draft of the brief, he panicked and used artificial intelligence to draft it, believed he had edited and fact-checked the AI-assisted draft, and in fact sent an unfinished draft to be filed.","causal_attribution":"Renfer connected the fabricated authority to his use of AI; the court later wrote that an attorney who outsources research and writing to generative AI assumes the risk of fictitious authority."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Renfer lost his job after resigning from the position he had held for 17 years, he said.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Renfer also told Numbers, who presided over that hearing, that he had submitted his resignation.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"Renfer was reportedly terminated the next day.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"has asked the Department of Justice's Office of Professional Responsibility to investigate","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Renfer left the U.S. Attorney's Office, where he had worked for 17 years: he told the court on 10 March 2026 that he had submitted his resignation, and Courthouse News reported that he was terminated the next day; the U.S. Attorney referred him to the Department of Justice's Office of Professional Responsibility.","causal_attribution":"The job loss followed the hearing on the AI-drafted brief; the sources do not state the employer's formal grounds."},{"id":"c6","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"On Tuesday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert Numbers II signed an order reprimanding Rudy Renfer","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"Numbers limited the punishment to a public reprimand.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"Numbers said Renfer “intentionally submitted a brief containing false materials to the court.”","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"His loss of employment imposes a financial burden well beyond the types of fines courts typically","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"On 28 April 2026 Magistrate Judge Numbers signed an order publicly reprimanding Renfer, writing that he intentionally submitted a brief containing false materials, that his professional reputation was in tatters, and that his loss of employment was a financial burden beyond the fines courts typically impose, so no fine was imposed.","causal_attribution":"The court tied the reprimand to the submission of fabricated authority produced with generative AI."}],"effects":[{"label":"a federal prosecutor lost his 17-year position and received a public judicial reprimand after filing an AI-drafted brief with fabricated quotations","claim_id":"c6","direction":"negative"},{"label":"a self-represented litigant had to identify fabricated quotations and misdescribed cases in the government's brief against him","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/judge-weighs-next-steps-us-121054156.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-09 from the saved body; no translation was involved and no human reviewer read the text. The News & Observer report of 11 March 2026 on the 10 March show-cause hearing, read in its Yahoo News syndication; HTTP 200.","independence_group":"news-and-observer"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/federal-judge-punishes-ex-us-173015519.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-09 from the saved body; no translation was involved and no human reviewer read the text. The News & Observer report of 28 April 2026 on the reprimand order, read in its Yahoo News syndication; HTTP 200.","independence_group":"news-and-observer"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.courthousenews.com/judge-rebukes-ex-doj-attorney-for-ai-generated-brief/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-09 from the saved body; no translation was involved and no human reviewer read the text. Courthouse News Service report of 28 April 2026; the publisher host returned HTTP 403 to the fetcher, so the body was read from an Internet Archive capture of the same URL.","independence_group":"courthouse-news"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://www.abajournal.com/news/article/doj-leaders-must-explain-why-attorney-used-fabricated-quotes-in-court-filing","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-09 from the saved body; no translation was involved and no human reviewer read the text. ABA Journal, 9 March 2026, relaying Bloomberg Law reporting of the 2 March 2026 show-cause order; it does not mention AI; HTTP 200.","independence_group":"bloomberg-law"},{"id":"s5","url":"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71231282/fivehouse-v-us-department-of-defense/?page=2","kind":"court_record","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-09 from the saved body; no translation was involved and no human reviewer read the text. CourtListener RECAP docket for Fivehouse v. U.S. Department of Defense, No. 2:25-cv-00041 (E.D.N.C.), page 2, entries of February to March 2026; HTTP 200. The 28 April 2026 order itself was not available as a free document.","independence_group":"court-docket"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["work","justice"],"unknowns":["Which AI tool Renfer used, and whether the whole brief or only parts of it were generated; the inspected accounts say only that he used artificial intelligence to draft the brief after losing his own draft.","Whether Renfer resigned or was terminated: he told the court he had resigned, and Courthouse News reported that he was terminated the next day.","The outcome of the Office of Professional Responsibility referral, and whether the court found similar fabricated quotations in other filings he signed (the News & Observer mentions errors in some of his other briefs without detail).","Any consequence for the self-represented plaintiff beyond the work of identifying the errors; the inspected sources describe none."],"geography":{"basis":"The brief was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina and the hearing took place at the federal courthouse in Raleigh (docket entry of 2 March 2026; News & Observer). Renfer worked in that district's U.S. Attorney's Office. No other country is involved.","court_countries":["US"],"event_countries":["US"],"affected_person_countries":["US"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a core case on two independent reporting chains that both quote the court's orders and both report the attorney's statements at the 10 March 2026 hearing: a federal prosecutor said under oath that he used artificial intelligence to draft a brief that the court found contained fabricated quotations and misdescribed holdings, and the court responded with a show-cause order (documented on the docket), after which he lost his position and received a public reprimand on 28 April 2026. The affected person is a named public actor in a public court record. The AI tool is not identified and the resignation-or-termination question is recorded as unknown.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-09"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"Renfer stated under oath at the 10 March 2026 show-cause hearing that he used artificial intelligence to draft the response brief after overwriting his own draft, and that he had not verified the cases it cited (News & Observer, 11 March; Courthouse News, 28 April). The court's 28 April order, as quoted by Courthouse News, treated the fabricated quotations and misdescribed holdings in that brief as the output of generative AI that Renfer failed to check ('An attorney who outsources core research and writing obligations to generative AI assumes the risk that its output will contain fictitious authority'); the News & Observer quotes the same order's statement that 'the submission of fabricated authority will not be tolerated in this Court'. The fabricated authority in the filed brief led to the show-cause order, the hearing, his departure from the office and the public reprimand. The tool is not identified in any inspected source.","status":"supported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Former federal prosecutor in North Carolina publicly reprimanded after admitting that a brief with fabricated quotations was drafted with AI; he lost his post","summary":"In December 2025 an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of North Carolina filed a response brief for the Department of Defense in a self-represented veteran's lawsuit over health-insurance coverage. The plaintiff identified fabricated quotations and misdescribed case holdings in it. The attorney first attributed the errors to an unfinalized draft filed by mistake. On 2 March 2026 Magistrate Judge Robert T. Numbers II ordered him to show cause why he should not be sanctioned. At the 10 March hearing the attorney, Rudy Renfer, said under oath that he had accidentally overwritten his draft, panicked and used artificial intelligence to draft the brief, and had not verified the cases it cited; he said he had resigned after 17 years in the office, and Courthouse News reported he was terminated the next day. On 28 April 2026 the court issued a public reprimand instead of a fine, writing that his reputation was in tatters and that his job loss already exceeded the usual fines.","incidentDate":"2025-12-23","incidentEndDate":"2026-04-28","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"day","exposurePattern":"single_interaction","reportedDate":"2026-03-09","aiSystem":"Generative artificial intelligence tool, not identified in the inspected accounts, that the attorney said he used to draft a response brief in federal court","aiProduct":"Unidentified AI drafting tool","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["professional_harm","reputational_harm","legal_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"The attorney lost his position in the U.S. Attorney's Office after 17 years, was referred to the Office of Professional Responsibility and received a public judicial reprimand stating that his professional reputation was in tatters, all following the show-cause proceedings over the AI-drafted brief with fabricated quotations (News & Observer; Courthouse News). The self-represented plaintiff had to identify the fabricated authority in the government's filing; no further consequence for him is reported.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One AI user harmed: the attorney who said he used AI to draft the brief and who lost his job and was reprimanded. The plaintiff's burden of identifying the errors is described, but no consequence to him is reported, so he is not counted as harmed.","victimAgeRange":"unknown","jurisdiction":"US","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"regulatory_action","outcomeStatus":"resolved","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/judge-weighs-next-steps-us-121054156.html","primarySourceLabel":"The News & Observer (via Yahoo News), 11 March 2026: report of the show-cause hearing at which the attorney admitted using AI","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-09T03:23:08.421295+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-09T03:23:08.421295+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["legal","fabricated_citations","hallucination","court_sanction","professional_harm","government","united_states","north_carolina"]},{"id":"2025-pont-a-mousson-ai-generated-macron-arnault-investment-ad-pensioner-savings-loss","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'initiés à partir de publications sur les réseaux sociaux utilisant des avatars de personnalités publiques générés par IA, comme Macron ou Arnault'; 'Des avatars de ces personnalités, générés par intelligence artificielle (IA), fleurissent sur les réseaux sociaux, et proposent des placements financiers juteux mais faux'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'L’affaire remonte à l’été 2025. Une publicité sur Internet promet des placements avantageux, mettant en scène le président de la République Emmanuel Macron et le milliardaire Bernard Arnault'; 'la publicité était en réalité un « deepfake », c’est-à-dire une fausse vidéo générée à l’aide de l’intelligence artificielle utilisant l’avatar de personnes existantes'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'la femme s’est fait duper par une publicité réalisée à l’aide de l’intelligence artificielle dans laquelle Emmanuel Macron et Bernard Arnault conseillent de réaliser des placements avantageux'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"A retired woman in her eighties living in Pont-à-Mousson saw an online advertisement in which likenesses of Emmanuel Macron and Bernard Arnault, described as AI-generated avatars by the regional press reporting the Pont-à-Mousson police station's warning, promoted a lucrative investment platform; Le Parisien places this in summer 2025.","causal_attribution":"Account of the Pont-à-Mousson police station as relayed by L'Est Républicain and, via ICI and L'Est Républicain, by Le Parisien and Capital; one reporting chain. The AI description is the outlets' own wording in reporting that warning; no quoted police statement mentions AI."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Après avoir donné son nom et son numéro, un faux conseiller bancaire la contacte. Il lui explique alors ce qu’elle peut gagner. L’escroc demande qu’elle installe un logiciel sur son ordinateur.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'L’homme, très convaincant, lui propose de placer 5 000 euros pour commencer. Plusieurs semaines après, la promesse est tenue et l’octogénaire reçoit plusieurs centaines d’euros « d’intérêts »'; 'La retraitée accepte et verse à nouveau 5 000 euros'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"She gave her name and telephone number through the advertisement's form, was contacted by a fake financial adviser, was asked to install software on her computer, invested 5,000 euros, received several hundred euros presented as interest, and reinvested repeatedly.","causal_attribution":"Police-station account via the same reporting chain."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'une habitante de Pont-à-Mousson s’est fait escroquer 10 000 € après des placements frauduleux'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'10 000 euros. C’est la somme qu’a perdue une retraitée, résidant à Pont-à-Mousson en Meurthe-et-Moselle, après avoir subi une escroquerie pendant l’été 2025'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'Les escrocs lui ont ainsi dérobé 10 000 euros, en deux retraits successifs de 5 000 euros chacun'","relation":"context","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"She lost at least 10,000 euros: L'Est Républicain and Capital report 10,000 euros, and Marie France (citing CNews) reports 10,000 euros taken in two withdrawals of 5,000 euros.","causal_attribution":"Police-station account via one reporting chain; the amount is not independently established."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Une retraitée a été arnaquée de 25 000 euros, à Pont-à-Mousson (Meurthe-et-Moselle)'; 'Entre juin et juillet 2025, l’octogénaire réitère l’opération plusieurs fois et finit par placer toutes ses économies, soit 25 000 euros'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'s’est fait escroquer 10 000 € après des placements frauduleux'","relation":"contradicts","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'elle décide alors d’investir toutes ses économies'","relation":"context","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"Le Parisien, citing ICI and L'Est Républicain, reports a total loss of 25,000 euros, all her savings, placed in several instalments between June and July 2025.","causal_attribution":"Le Parisien's figure differs from the 10,000 euros of L'Est Républicain, Capital and Marie France; which figure the police gave, or whether the larger one includes later instalments, is not established."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'l’annonce publicitaire, ainsi que le site frauduleux, ont disparu'; 'Une enquête a été ouverte pour tenter d’identifier le ou les auteurs de cette arnaque'; '« Pour ce genre d’arnaque, nous enregistrons entre trois et cinq plaintes par semaine »'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'Le commissariat de Pont-à-Mousson alerte : les escroqueries aux faux conseillers bancaires se multiplient'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The advertisement and the fraudulent site then disappeared; an investigation was opened, and the Pont-à-Mousson police station publicly warned that it records three to five complaints a week for this kind of fraud.","causal_attribution":"Statements of the Pont-à-Mousson police station to the regional press."}],"effects":[{"label":"lost her savings to a fraudulent investment platform promoted by an advertisement using AI-generated likenesses of Macron and Arnault","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.estrepublicain.fr/faits-divers-justice/2026/06/07/escroquee-par-un-faux-macron-genere-par-ia-elle-perd-10-000-dans-des-placements-frauduleux","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"fr","translation_note":"Read in French and translated by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-07 (HTTP 200); no human translator or reviewer read the article. L'Est Républicain (Groupe EBRA) regional report of 7 June 2026 based on the Pont-à-Mousson police station's warning.","independence_group":"est-republicain-ici-pont-a-mousson-police"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.leparisien.fr/faits-divers/une-retraitee-perd-25-000-euros-apres-avoir-ete-piegee-par-une-fausse-publicite-demmanuel-macron-generee-par-ia-15-06-2026-EXVJWQKNJ5DTTKETUIJO4AABPQ.php","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"fr","translation_note":"Read in French and translated by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-07 (HTTP 200); no human translator or reviewer read the article. Le Parisien, 15 June 2026, explicitly based on ICI (France Bleu) and L'Est Républicain; same reporting chain as s1.","independence_group":"est-republicain-ici-pont-a-mousson-police"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.capital.fr/economie-politique/une-retraitee-perd-10-000-euros-a-cause-d-une-fausse-publicite-generee-par-ia-comment-eviter-ce-piege-1527640","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"fr","translation_note":"Read in French and translated by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-07 (HTTP 200); no human translator or reviewer read the article. Capital, 15 June 2026, explicitly based on L'Est Républicain and ICI; same reporting chain as s1.","independence_group":"est-republicain-ici-pont-a-mousson-police"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://www.mariefrance.fr/news-people/apres-brad-pitt-faux-emmanuel-macron-vole-milliers-euros-internaute-tombee-panneau-1277321.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"fr","translation_note":"Read in French and translated by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-07 (HTTP 200); no human translator or reviewer read the article. Marie France, 10 June 2026, relaying a CNews article; the CNews item was not located. Same police-station account; kept as context for the relay and its differing description of the withdrawals.","independence_group":"est-republicain-ici-pont-a-mousson-police"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["finance","everyday_life"],"unknowns":["Which AI tool produced the advertisement, whether it was a video or still images, and where it was served (the outlets say 'social networks' and 'Internet').","The total loss: 10,000 euros (L'Est Républicain, Capital, Marie France) or 25,000 euros (Le Parisien); whether the woman recovered any money.","Exact dates: Le Parisien places the payments between June and July 2025, while L'Est Républicain of 7 June 2026 says she was defrauded 'this week', which may refer to the complaint; recorded as June 2025 at month precision.","Whether anyone has been identified or charged; the state of the investigation after June 2026.","The CNews article relayed by Marie France was not located; the ICI (France Bleu) report cited by Le Parisien and Capital was not read."],"geography":{"basis":"The woman lives in Pont-à-Mousson (Meurthe-et-Moselle) and the complaint was handled by the Pont-à-Mousson police station, which described the case; the advertisement was seen online from there. No court proceeding is reported.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["FR"],"affected_person_countries":["FR"]},"publication":{"basis":"Single reporting chain (Pont-à-Mousson police station via L'Est Républicain, ICI, Le Parisien, Capital, CNews/Marie France) describing a concrete loss by one identifiable but unnamed pensioner after an advertisement that the regional press, reporting the police station's warning, describe as AI-generated likenesses of two public figures; the AI impersonation is the reported entry point to the fraud. Published as a reported account with the amount discrepancy preserved.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-07"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"L'Est Républicain, reporting the Pont-à-Mousson police station's warning, says the fraud was initiated from social-media publications using avatars of public figures generated by artificial intelligence, such as Macron or Arnault; Le Parisien, citing ICI and L'Est Républicain, describes the advertisement as a deepfake, a fake video generated with AI using the avatars of real people, showing Macron and Arnault praising an investment platform. The generated likenesses impersonated those two men toward the woman (depicted_or_impersonated) and are what led her to fill in the form through which the fraudsters obtained her contact details and money. No outlet examined the advertisement, no tool is named, and no forensic finding is reported.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["depicted_or_impersonated"]},"name":"Pont-à-Mousson pensioner lost her savings to a fraudulent investment platform promoted by an ad reported as AI-generated likenesses of Macron and Arnault","summary":"A retired woman in her eighties living in Pont-à-Mousson (Meurthe-et-Moselle, France) responded, in summer 2025 according to Le Parisien and Capital, to an online advertisement in which AI-generated likenesses of Emmanuel Macron and Bernard Arnault promoted a lucrative investment platform. A supposed financial adviser then called her, she invested 5,000 euros, received several hundred euros of 'interest', and reinvested repeatedly until the advertisement and the site disappeared. L'Est Républicain (7 June 2026) and Capital put the loss at 10,000 euros; Le Parisien, citing ICI and L'Est Républicain, reports 25,000 euros, all her savings. The Pont-à-Mousson police station says an investigation was opened and that it receives three to five complaints a week for this kind of fraud. The account rests on the police station's warning as reported by the regional press, which describes the advertisement as AI-generated; the advertisement itself was not examined by the outlets and the quoted police statements do not mention AI.","incidentDate":"2025-06-01","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"repeated_interactions","reportedDate":"2026-06-07","aiSystem":"An online advertisement in which likenesses of Emmanuel Macron and Bernard Arnault, described by the regional press, reporting the Pont-à-Mousson police station's warning, as avatars generated with artificial intelligence (a 'deepfake' video, per Le Parisien), promoted a fraudulent investment platform; tool not identified","aiProduct":"Unidentified image and video tool","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["financial_loss"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"A pensioner in Pont-à-Mousson lost at least 10,000 euros (25,000 euros, all her savings, per Le Parisien) to a fraudulent investment platform promoted by an advertisement that the regional press, reporting the police, describe as AI-generated likenesses of Emmanuel Macron and Bernard Arnault.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person, the pensioner described by the Pont-à-Mousson police station (L'Est Républicain, Le Parisien, Capital). The second complainant in L'Est Républicain lost money to a different fake-adviser fraud without any AI element and is not counted. The 'three to five complaints a week' figure is a general police statement about the fraud type and is not counted. Exact 1.","victimAgeRange":"elderly","jurisdiction":"FR","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"investigation_opened","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.estrepublicain.fr/faits-divers-justice/2026/06/07/escroquee-par-un-faux-macron-genere-par-ia-elle-perd-10-000-dans-des-placements-frauduleux","primarySourceLabel":"L'Est Républicain, 7 June 2026: Escroquée par un faux Emmanuel Macron généré par IA, elle perd 10 000 € dans des placements frauduleux","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-07T03:30:06.294009+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-11T07:44:15.692384+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["deepfake","fake-celebrity-advertisement","investment-fraud","fraud","elderly","france","pont-a-mousson","depicted-or-impersonated"]},{"id":"2025-nsw-resilient-homes-program-applicant-data-uploaded-to-chatgpt","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Some personal information provided by people during the RHP applications process was uploaded by a former temporary employee of the RA to the AI platform, ChatGPT.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"The data shared was contained in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet with 10 columns and more than 12,000 rows of information.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"The upload took place between 12 and 15 March 2025.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"This incident occurred when a former temporary employee uploaded information from a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to an unauthorised third-party AI platform, ChatGPT.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Between 12 and 15 March 2025, personal information was uploaded by a former contractor of the RA to the Artificial Intelligence platform ChatGPT.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"},{"locator":"\"Personal information was uploaded by a former contractor of the RA to the artificial intelligence platform ChatGPT,\" an RA spokesperson said.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"The authority said in a breach notice that the upload “was not authorised”.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"Between 12 and 15 March 2025 a former temporary staff member (called a former contractor in the first notice) of the NSW Reconstruction Authority uploaded a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet of Northern Rivers Resilient Homes Program information (10 columns, more than 12,000 rows) to ChatGPT; the Authority says the upload was not authorised and was not a cyber-attack.","causal_attribution":"The Authority's own notices report the upload, its dates and its unauthorised status; the ABC and iTnews relay those notices. The uploader's role is a former temporary staff member on the current page and a former contractor in the first notice and the press."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"2031 people who provided information to the RA for the RHP had some of their data uploaded to ChatGPT.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Name and contact details","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Residential/mailing address","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Date of birth","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Sensitive personal information","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Sensitive health information","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Limited financial commentary, but not banking or financial details","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"no driver's licence numbers, Medicare numbers, passport numbers, or Tax File Numbers were disclosed in the breach.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Up to 3000 individuals may be impacted by the breach.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"},{"locator":"The breach shared the names and addresses of program applicants, as well as email addresses, phone numbers, and other personal and health information.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The Authority says external forensic analysis confirmed that 2031 people who provided information for the program had some of their data uploaded to ChatGPT, including name and contact details, residential or mailing address, date of birth, sensitive personal and health information and limited financial commentary, and that no driver licence, Medicare, passport or Tax File Numbers were disclosed; its first notice had estimated up to 3000 people.","causal_attribution":"The Authority's statements report the count and data categories from its forensic analysis; the ABC relays the first notice's categories."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"There is no evidence that any of the uploaded data is publicly available online or has been accessed by a third party at this stage.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"We believe the risk of misuse is low","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"There is no evidence that any information has been made public, however this cannot be ruled out","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"The Authority says there is no evidence that the uploaded data is publicly available online or has been accessed by a third party; its first notice said this could not be ruled out, and it assesses the risk of misuse as low.","causal_attribution":"The Authority's own assessment. Whether OpenAI retained, deleted or used the uploaded data is not addressed in the inspected sources."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"we are deeply sorry for the distress it may cause for those involved in the program.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"I feel concerned — the information with the RA was deeply personal,","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The Authority apologised for the distress the breach may cause, and a program participant whose flooded home was bought back told the ABC the information held by the Authority was deeply personal and that they felt concerned.","causal_attribution":"The concern is one participant's stated reaction; the ABC does not say whether this person is among the 2031. No identity misuse or other realised loss is reported."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"We are working with Social Futures to reach out to people who have been impacted and ID Support NSW, a government identity and cyber security support service, to assist anyone whose data may have been compromised.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"The NSW Reconstruction Authority will provide compensation for any reasonable out of pocket expenses if any compromised identity documents need to be replaced.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"The Authority contacted affected people with ID Support NSW and Social Futures to offer support, and said it would compensate reasonable out-of-pocket expenses if compromised identity documents needed replacing.","causal_attribution":"The Authority's statements about its response."},{"id":"c6","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"We are working with Cyber Security NSW to monitor the internet and dark web to see if any of this information is accessible online. The NSW Privacy Commissioner has also been notified.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"The RA has also implemented controls to block the upload of personal information into AI tools.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"An independent review into the data breach has now been completed, identifying several areas for improvement in RA’s governance, training and data security practices.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The Authority notified the NSW Privacy Commissioner, had Cyber Security NSW monitor the internet and dark web, implemented controls to block the upload of personal information into AI tools, and completed an independent review that identified areas for improvement in its governance, training and data security practices.","causal_attribution":"The Authority's own account of its response; the review report itself was not inspected."},{"id":"c7","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"The AI-related data breach was disclosed on what is a public holiday Monday in NSW, although it actually occurred over six months ago, between March 12 and 15.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"said she received a preliminary report about the breach in July, and the final report on Friday.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"\"I would prefer [for the RA] to advise people sooner, and I'm also informed they couldn't identify everybody, but I need to see the report first,\" she said.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The breach was disclosed publicly on 6 October 2025, more than six months after the upload; the NSW Minister for Recovery told the ABC she had received a preliminary report about the breach in July and would have preferred people to be advised sooner.","causal_attribution":"iTnews's own observation of the disclosure timing and the Minister's statement to the ABC; the Authority attributes the delay to the time needed to identify affected people."}],"effects":[{"label":"personal and sensitive information of 2031 Resilient Homes Program participants was uploaded to ChatGPT without authorisation","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"},{"label":"a program participant reports concern about the deeply personal information held; the Authority apologised for possible distress","claim_id":"c4","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.nsw.gov.au/departments-and-agencies/nsw-reconstruction-authority/resilient-homes-program-data-breach","kind":"official_statement","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"English original; full body read by curl on 2026-10-11 (page last updated 26 March 2026, with the 9 December 2025 update and FAQ on the same page).","independence_group":"nsw-ra-statement"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-06/data-breach-northern-rivers-resilient-homes-program-chatgpt/105855284","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"English original; full body read by curl on 2026-10-11. Relays the Authority statement; the participant and the Minister were interviewed separately within the same article.","independence_group":"nsw-ra-statement"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.itnews.com.au/news/nsw-gov-contractor-uploaded-excel-spreadsheet-of-flood-victims-data-to-chatgpt-620815","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"English original; full body read by curl on 2026-10-11. Relays the Authority breach notice; the disclosure-timing observation is the outlet's own.","independence_group":"nsw-ra-statement"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://www.nsw.gov.au/departments-and-agencies/nsw-reconstruction-authority/media-releases/northern-rivers-resilient-homes-program-data-breach","kind":"official_statement","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"English original; full body read by curl on 2026-10-11. Authority departmental release of the first notice, 6 October 2025.","independence_group":"nsw-ra-statement"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["institutional_use"],"contexts":["privacy","public_services"],"unknowns":["Why the staff member uploaded the spreadsheet and what, if anything, was asked of ChatGPT; no ChatGPT output is described.","Whether OpenAI retained, deleted or used the uploaded data for training; the sources establish the upload to the service only.","Whether any participant suffered identity misuse or other realised loss; none is reported.","Whether the uploader was a temporary staff member or a contractor (the Authority uses both terms), and how many separate uploads occurred between 12 and 15 March 2025.","The findings of the independent review beyond the Authority's summary of it."],"geography":{"basis":"The data was held by the NSW Reconstruction Authority, a New South Wales government agency, and was uploaded by a former temporary staff member of that agency; the Authority describes the incident as a breach of its program data. The ABC describes the affected people as northern NSW residents of the Northern Rivers region. No court is involved.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["AU"],"affected_person_countries":["AU"]},"publication":{"basis":"The Authority's notices, read in full on 2026-10-11, state that a staff member uploaded program participants' personal and sensitive information to ChatGPT without authorisation and that forensic analysis confirmed 2031 affected people. The disclosure of their information to a generative AI service without their knowledge is the recorded privacy harm. The upload rests on the Authority's own account, which the press relayed; no retention, training, public exposure or misuse is established. The uploader and affected people are not named.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-11"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The Authority states that a former temporary staff member uploaded a spreadsheet of program information to ChatGPT between 12 and 15 March 2025, that the upload was not authorised, and that forensic analysis confirmed 2031 people had some of their data uploaded. The reported transfer of their personal and sensitive information into the generative AI service is the AI connection to the privacy harm. This establishes the upload only. It does not establish retention by OpenAI, use for training, public exposure or a finding of illegality, and no ChatGPT output affecting participants is described.","status":"supported"},"person_relations":["received_personal_information"]},"name":"NSW Reconstruction Authority says a former temporary staff member uploaded 2031 Resilient Homes participants' personal data to ChatGPT without authorisation","summary":"The NSW Reconstruction Authority says that between 12 and 15 March 2025 a former temporary staff member (called a former contractor in its first notice) uploaded a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet of Northern Rivers Resilient Homes Program information, 10 columns and more than 12,000 rows, to ChatGPT, an AI platform the Authority had not authorised. The Authority disclosed the breach on 6 October 2025, estimating that up to 3000 people were affected, and later said external forensic analysis confirmed that 2031 people had some of their data uploaded, including names, contact details, addresses, dates of birth, sensitive personal and health information and limited financial commentary. It says no driver licence, Medicare, passport or Tax File Numbers were disclosed and that there is no evidence the data is publicly available or was accessed by a third party; whether OpenAI retained or used the data is not addressed. The Authority apologised, contacted affected people with ID Support NSW, offered to compensate the replacement of compromised identity documents and notified the NSW Privacy Commissioner. A program participant told the ABC the information was deeply personal and that they felt concerned. No misuse of the data is reported.","incidentDate":"2025-03-12","incidentEndDate":"2025-03-15","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"range","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2025-10-06","aiSystem":"ChatGPT (OpenAI), used through an unauthorised upload of program data by a person working for the NSW Reconstruction Authority","aiProduct":"ChatGPT","aiCompany":"OpenAI","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["other_material_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"The NSW Reconstruction Authority reports that personal and sensitive information of 2031 Resilient Homes Program participants was uploaded to ChatGPT without authorisation, a loss of privacy for those people; it reports no evidence of public exposure or third-party access, and no misuse is reported (the Authority's notices and press coverage relaying them).","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":2031,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"The Authority states that external forensic analysis confirmed 2031 people had some of their data uploaded to ChatGPT. The upload of their personal information to the AI service is itself the privacy harm recorded, so those 2031 people are counted as other people harmed. The first notice's estimate of up to 3000 is not used; the 12,000 rows are rows, not people. The participant quoted by the ABC is not separately counted because the ABC does not say whether that person is among the 2031. The uploader is not counted.","victimAgeRange":"unknown","jurisdiction":"AU-NSW","platformType":"chatbot","outcomeType":"investigation_opened","outcomeStatus":"resolved","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.nsw.gov.au/departments-and-agencies/nsw-reconstruction-authority/resilient-homes-program-data-breach","primarySourceLabel":"NSW Reconstruction Authority, updated 26 March 2026: Resilient Homes Program data breach","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-29T12:41:19.196147+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-11T03:10:38.11789+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["historical-2025"]},{"id":"2025-gwinnett-couple-crypto-scam-ai-generated-ghost-site-800k","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'A retired Georgia couple is warning others after losing their entire life savings—nearly $800,000—in an elaborate cryptocurrency scam that began with a message on WhatsApp.'; 'attempted to withdraw more money—and couldn’t. He called 911.'; 'They are working with Gwinnett County police'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'said they lost $802,000 in a cryptocurrency scam this year.'; 'inside his northeast Gwinnett County home last week.'; 'He had just tried to withdraw money from his cryptocurrency account, but couldn’t.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"A couple in Gwinnett County, Georgia, lost about $800,000 (the AJC says $802,000) in a cryptocurrency scam; the husband found out when he tried to withdraw money and could not.","causal_attribution":"The couple's own account, given in separate interviews to FOX 5 and the AJC; both outlets say police are investigating, and no inspected passage from police or another origin states the amount or the failed withdrawal."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Gwinnett County police explained that while the app he was using was real, the scammers had created an AI-generated \"ghost site\" that manipulated what he saw on the screen.'; 'He was able to identify that what I was seeing on CryptoWallet wasn’t there,'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"According to FOX 5, Gwinnett County police explained that while the trading app was real, the scammers had created an AI-generated \"ghost site\" that manipulated what the husband saw on his screen; the husband recalled the officer identifying that what he was seeing on the wallet was not there.","causal_attribution":"Police explanation as relayed by FOX 5, plus the husband's recollection of it to FOX 5; a Cobb County government page repeats FOX 5's summary and the AJC's legible text does not mention AI; the tool and method are not described."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'The 74-year-old’s head was spinning. He felt sick.'; 'It’s teary, embarrassing. I feel ashamed.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'say the ordeal left them angry, embarrassed, and financially devastated.'; 'The couple's children have launched a GoFundMe to help them meet day-to-day expenses.'; 'investigators say in many cases like this, the victims rarely recover their funds.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The husband, 74, described feeling sick and ashamed; the couple said they were financially devastated and their children started a fundraiser for day-to-day expenses; police said victims rarely recover such funds.","causal_attribution":"The couple's accounts to two outlets."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'A retired Georgia couple is warning others after losing their entire life savings—nearly $800,000—in an elaborate cryptocurrency scam that began with a message on WhatsApp.'; 'encouraging him to invest in cryptocurrency using a mobile trading app.'; 'seeing modest returns, and even able to withdraw funds—building his trust.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"According to FOX 5, the couple are retired, the money was their entire life savings, and the scam began when a stranger contacted the husband on WhatsApp and encouraged him to invest through a mobile trading app, where he traded small amounts and could withdraw funds before investing more.","causal_attribution":"The couple's account to FOX 5 only."}],"effects":[{"label":"a couple lost about $800,000 in a cryptocurrency scam","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"},{"label":"the husband describes feeling sick and ashamed; the couple's children started a fundraiser to help them meet day-to-day expenses","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/georgia-couple-loses-800k-sophisticated-cryptocurrency-scam","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Full body read by curl on 2026-09-29 and re-read on 2026-10-09 (HTTP 200) (published 12 June 2025). FOX 5 interviewed the couple and relays an explanation from Gwinnett County police.","independence_group":"fox5"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.ajc.com/news/2025/06/gwinnett-couple-warn-others-after-losing-800k-in-cryptocurrency-scam/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read by curl on 2026-09-29 and re-read on 2026-10-09 (HTTP 200; the Internet Archive capture is scrambled the same way) (published 12 June 2025). Only the headline, caption and first paragraphs are legible; the rest of the body is served scrambled (reversed, reordered words) and could not be read. The AJC interviewed the husband separately. r.jina.ai 403.","independence_group":"ajc"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["finance"],"unknowns":["How AI was used to generate the fake site, which tool was used and which parts of what the husband saw were generated.","Where the scammers were based.","Whether any funds were recovered or anyone charged.","When the scheme began.","Whether the AJC's scrambled body, or the WSB-TV and 11Alive reports that could not be fetched, describe the AI element independently."],"geography":{"basis":"Both outlets locate the couple in Gwinnett County, Georgia (the AJC: their northeast Gwinnett County home); where the scammers operated is unknown.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["US"],"affected_person_countries":["US"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a concrete fraud case in which police are reported to have identified an AI-generated fake site that showed the husband false account information while he invested; the loss is the couple's own account given to two outlets, the AI element is a police explanation relayed by one of them, and the record states those limits. Reviewed on 2026-10-09 to record the AI output's relation to the harmed couple (the generated site communicated false balances to the husband).","reviewed_on":"2026-10-09"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"What the AI generated: FOX 5 relays Gwinnett County police explaining that, while the trading app was real, the scammers had created an AI-generated \"ghost site\" that manipulated what the husband saw on the screen, and the husband recalled the officer identifying that what he was seeing on the wallet was not there (c2). Connection to the harm: police gave the ghost site as the explanation of how the scam worked, a manipulated view of his investments on the screen while he traded and invested larger amounts until he could not withdraw (c2, c4), and the couple say roughly $800,000 is gone (c1); which parts of the display were generated is not described. Relation: the generated site presented false account information to the husband, so the AI output was communicated to him (communicated_with); it impersonated no person. Limits: the attribution to AI is a police explanation relayed by one outlet; the tool, the method of generation and which parts of the display were generated are not described, and the AJC body, whose legible part does not mention AI, could not be read in full.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Georgia: a retired couple lost about $800,000 in a crypto scam that police said used an AI-generated \"ghost site\" to fake what the husband saw on screen (2025)","summary":"A retired couple in Gwinnett County, Georgia, told FOX 5 Atlanta and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in June 2025 that they had lost about $800,000 ($802,000 per the AJC), their life savings, in a cryptocurrency scam that began when a stranger contacted the husband on WhatsApp and encouraged him to trade through a mobile app. He traded and withdrew small amounts before investing more, and discovered the fraud when he could not withdraw and called 911. According to FOX 5, Gwinnett County police explained that the app was real but the scammers had created an AI-generated \"ghost site\" that manipulated what he saw on the screen; the husband said police identified that what he was seeing on the wallet was not there. The 74-year-old said he felt sick and ashamed; the couple's children started a fundraiser for day-to-day expenses, and police said such funds are rarely recovered. The tool is not described; the AI element appears in no independently reported source (a Cobb County government page of January 2026 repeats FOX 5's summary, and the AJC's legible text does not mention AI).","incidentDate":"2025-01-01","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"year","exposurePattern":"repeated_interactions","reportedDate":"2025-06-12","aiSystem":"Unidentified AI tool used by scammers to generate a fake (\"ghost\") site showing false account balances on a real trading app, per Gwinnett County police as relayed by FOX 5 Atlanta","aiProduct":"Unidentified website tool","severity":"high","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["financial_loss","psychological_distress"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"A retired couple lost about $800,000, their life savings, to a crypto investment scam (their accounts to FOX 5 and the AJC); police told FOX 5 the scammers used an AI-generated fake site to show false balances. The husband describes shame and distress.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":2,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"The husband and wife, who lost their joint savings (2 other people: they were deceived by the scammers' AI-made site rather than using an AI system themselves).","victimAgeRange":"elderly","jurisdiction":"US-GA","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"investigation_opened","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/georgia-couple-loses-800k-sophisticated-cryptocurrency-scam","primarySourceLabel":"FOX 5 Atlanta, 12 June 2025: Georgia couple loses $800K in sophisticated cryptocurrency scam","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-29T09:10:55.774776+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-09T03:23:27.53992+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["investment-scam","cryptocurrency","whatsapp","ai-generated-site","elderly","georgia","gwinnett"]},{"id":"2025-aberdeen-mississippi-fee-suit-ai-hallucinated-citations-four-attorneys-sanctioned","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"p. 2: 'the Court was unable to locate certain legal authorities cited within them. Specifically, the Court determined that the following filings contained hallucinatory citations'; p. 3: 'the attorneys admitted that the hallucinatory citations cited by them, and identified by the Court, resulted from unverified AI use.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'In *Withers v. City of Aberdeen*, attorneys for both sides cited no fewer than six entirely fabricated precedents.'","relation":"context","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"In late 2025, legal memoranda filed for both sides in a fee suit against the City of Aberdeen (N.D. Miss.) cited cases that do not exist; the court identified one such citation in the City's summary-judgment memorandum, three in its fee-challenge memorandum and two in the plaintiff's opposition, and the attorneys admitted the citations resulted from unverified AI use.","causal_attribution":"Established by the court's sanctions order on the attorneys' own admissions."},{"id":"c2","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"p. 3: 'Williams admitted to using an AI tool to conduct legal research, and Wilson admitted to using generative AI to draft her respective filing. Neither of them verified the legal authority output by AI before filing their briefs.'; p. 9: 'She explained that she used “First Drafts,” an AI- powered program for drafting legal documents.'; p. 14: 'it had acquired software that was built for in-house legal research.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The plaintiff's out-of-state counsel, Kathleen M. Wilson, drafted the opposition using 'First Drafts', an AI-powered drafting program, and the City's out-of-state counsel, Kathryn Y. Williams, used an in-house AI legal research tool; neither verified the AI output before filing.","causal_attribution":"Admissions recorded and findings made in the sanctions order."},{"id":"c3","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"p. 21: 'Kathleen M. Wilson’s pro hac vice admission in this case is REVOKED.'; 'Wilson is hereby ORDERED to pay a $2,500 fine to the registry of this Court'; 'Williams is hereby ORDERED to pay a $3,500 fine to the registry of this Court'; 'Shauncey Hunter Ridgeway is DISQUALIFIED from further participation in this case.'; p. 22: 'Mark McClinton is DISQUALIFIED from further participation in this case.'; 'send a copy of this Sanctions Order to the Mississippi Bar, the Louisiana Bar, and the Texas Bar.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"p. 20: 'Wilson and Williams are hereby BARRED from entering an appearance in any case before the United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi for the period of two (2) years'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"On 8 June 2026 the court revoked Wilson's and Williams' pro hac vice admissions, barred both from appearing in the Northern District of Mississippi for two years, fined Wilson $2,500 and Williams $3,500, ordered Wilson to complete an AI ethics CLE, disqualified the two local counsel (Shauncey Hunter Ridgeway and Mark C. McClinton, who signed without checking the citations) with $1,000 fines each, and sent the order to the Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas bars.","causal_attribution":"The sanctions are the court's response to the AI-generated false citations and the failure to verify them."},{"id":"c4","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'Given the pending sanctions issue, this case is hereby STAYED until further order of the Court. The final pretrial conference scheduled on February 19, 2026 and trial scheduled on March 23, 2026 are hereby cancelled'; 'The following pending motions are hereby TERMINATED'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"p. 20: 'The Court is cognizant that upon disqualifying the resident attorneys the litigants are effectively left without representation in this case, and that this can cause hardship for them.'; p. 22: 'the Court will dismiss this case without further notice.'; p. 12: 'The Court was unable to resolve that dispositive motion given the tainted filings, and it effectively inhibited the case from proceeding further.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Because of the sanctions issue the court stayed the case, cancelled the pretrial conference and the 23 March 2026 trial, and terminated the pending summary-judgment and fee motions; after disqualifying all four attorneys it gave both litigants 60 days to find new counsel, acknowledging this could cause them hardship, and warned the plaintiff that the case would be dismissed if no counsel appeared or he did not elect to proceed pro se by 7 August 2026.","causal_attribution":"The stay and loss of counsel follow directly from the sanctions proceeding over the AI-generated citations, per the court's orders."},{"id":"c5","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'directing attorney Kathleen M. Wilson to show cause as to why this Court should not hold her in contempt for her failure to pay the fine'; 'Wilson shall have until September 16, 2026 to (1) pay the monetary fine'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"On 17 August 2026, after a show-cause order over Wilson's failure to pay the fine, the court extended her deadline to pay it and to complete the CLE to 16 September 2026.","causal_attribution":"Follow-on enforcement of the sanctions order."}],"effects":[{"label":"two attorneys who used AI tools without verifying the output lost their pro hac vice admissions, were barred from the district for two years and fined","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"},{"label":"two local counsel were disqualified and fined for signing the AI-drafted filings without checking the citations","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"},{"label":"the case was stayed, the trial cancelled and both litigants left without counsel, with the plaintiff's case facing dismissal if no new counsel appeared","claim_id":"c4","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.msnd.50181/gov.uscourts.msnd.50181.123.0_1.pdf","kind":"court_order","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Sanctions Order, ECF 123, filed 8 June 2026 (Senior Judge Sharion Aycock), 23 pages; full text read via pdftotext on 2026-09-29 (RECAP copy on CourtListener).","independence_group":"msnd-court-record"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.msnd.50181/gov.uscourts.msnd.50181.120.0.pdf","kind":"court_order","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Order staying the case, ECF 120, filed 4 February 2026; one page, read in full on 2026-09-29.","independence_group":"msnd-court-record"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.msnd.50181/gov.uscourts.msnd.50181.133.0.pdf","kind":"court_order","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Order of 17 August 2026, ECF 133, extending one attorney's deadline to pay the fine and complete the CLE; one page, read in full on 2026-09-29.","independence_group":"msnd-court-record"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/technology-science/artc-courtroom-hallucinations-lawyers-cite-precedents-dreamt-up-by-ai-as-clients-sabotage-their-own-cases","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"i24NEWS aggregate piece (Sep 2026) read on 2026-09-29 from the Internet Archive capture of 10 Sep 2026 (the live page is a JavaScript shell). It mentions the case in two sentences; its count of 'no fewer than six' fabricated precedents matches the order's list and is not an independent check.","independence_group":"i24news"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use","others_use"],"contexts":["work","justice"],"unknowns":["Which underlying model the 'First Drafts' program and Williams' research tool used; the order names neither vendor's model.","Whether the Mississippi, Louisiana or Texas bars opened disciplinary proceedings, and whether Wilson paid by 16 September 2026.","Whether the litigants retained new counsel by 7 August 2026 and what became of the case.","The dates of the other tainted filings Wilson drafted in this case (ECF 123 p.11); they may predate 5 November 2025."],"geography":{"basis":"Federal case in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi (Aberdeen Division); the order describes the attorneys as licensed in Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi.","court_countries":["US"],"event_countries":["US"],"affected_person_countries":["US"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published from the court's own sanctions order and related docket orders, which record the attorneys' admissions of unverified AI use and the resulting sanctions, stay and loss of counsel. Attorneys are named as they are in the public order; the plaintiff, a private litigant, is not named.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-29"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The sanctions order records the two drafting attorneys' admissions that their filings were produced with AI tools (Wilson: 'First Drafts', a generative drafting program; Williams: an unnamed in-house AI legal research product) and finds that their unverified reliance on the output produced the fabricated citations.","status":"supported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Fee suit against the City of Aberdeen (N.D. Miss.): four attorneys on both sides sanctioned after AI tools produced fabricated case citations; trial cancelled and both litigants left without counsel","summary":"In a fee dispute between a Louisiana attorney and the City of Aberdeen, Mississippi, briefs filed for both sides in late 2025 cited six cases that do not exist. The attorneys admitted the citations came from unverified AI use: the plaintiff's out-of-state counsel, Kathleen M. Wilson, drafted her filing with an AI drafting program called 'First Drafts', and the City's out-of-state counsel, Kathryn Y. Williams, used an in-house AI legal research tool. Senior Judge Sharion Aycock stayed the case and cancelled the March 2026 trial, then on 8 June 2026 revoked both attorneys' pro hac vice admissions, barred them from the district for two years and fined them $2,500 and $3,500, and disqualified and fined the two local counsel who had signed the filings. Both litigants were left without counsel and given 60 days to find new representation.","incidentDate":"2025-11-05","incidentEndDate":"2026-06-08","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"range","exposurePattern":"repeated_interactions","reportedDate":"2026-06-08","aiSystem":"'First Drafts', an AI-powered legal drafting program (plaintiff's counsel), and an unnamed in-house AI legal research software product (City's counsel); underlying models not stated","aiProduct":"First Drafts and unidentified legal research tool","aiCompany":"Unknown","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"verified","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["professional_harm","legal_harm","financial_loss"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"Per the court's orders, two attorneys who filed AI-generated fabricated citations lost their pro hac vice admissions, were barred from the district for two years and fined $2,500 and $3,500; two local counsel who signed the filings were disqualified and fined $1,000 each; the case was stayed with its trial cancelled, and the plaintiff was left without counsel under threat of dismissal.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"established","participantUsersAffectedMin":2,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":3,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"Sanctions Order (ECF 123). Participant users: Wilson and Williams, the two attorneys who used the AI tools and were sanctioned (2). Others harmed through their use: the two local counsel disqualified and fined (Ridgeway, McClinton) and the plaintiff, an individual whose case was stayed, whose trial was cancelled and who was left without counsel (3). The City of Aberdeen is an organisation and is not counted; no other person's harm is stated.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"US-MS","platformType":"assistant","outcomeType":"regulatory_action","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.msnd.50181/gov.uscourts.msnd.50181.123.0_1.pdf","primarySourceLabel":"Withers v. City of Aberdeen, No. 1:24-cv-218-SA-RP (N.D. Miss.), Sanctions Order, ECF 123, 8 June 2026","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-29T09:10:31.680119+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:16:55.045067+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["work","justice","legal-profession","sanction","fabricated-citations","pro-hac-vice","own-use","mississippi"]},{"id":"2025-stephens-county-oklahoma-judge-chatgpt-fake-citations-paternity-order","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Wheeler denied a request from one of the parents' attorneys to have the other parent undergo a psychological test—and in his order denying the request, he pointed to multiple previous Oklahoma cases he said backed him up.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'The 2025 order in a child paternity case'; 'He came under scrutiny after he reprimanded attorney [the attorney] last November in an order in the paternity case for asking for a psychological evaluation of the child’s father.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'The issue came to light after a request for a mental evaluation was denied and a subsequent court order was filed.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"In November 2025, in a child paternity and custody case, Judge Wheeler issued an order denying a request by one parent's attorney for a psychological evaluation of the other parent, citing Oklahoma cases he said supported the decision.","causal_attribution":"Court history as reported by The Oklahoman and KFOR and described by the mother; the order itself was not read."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'The judge told the OSBI he only used ChatGPT for research and created the order himself, DA Jason Hicks wrote. The judge, however, also “indicated that at least two of the case citations included in his order and produced by ChatGPT do not exist.”'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'Stephens County District Attorney Jason Hicks says Wheeler admitted to OSBI agents he cited \"at least two\" cases ChatGPT fed him that \"do not exist.\"'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'Hicks wrote that Wheeler acknowledged using case citations generated by ChatGPT and that at least two citations included in the order did not exist.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'Associate District Judge Lawrence Wheeler used OpenAI's ChatGPT for research while drafting the order, which cited two cases that do not exist, according to state records.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"According to the district attorney's 17 August 2026 letter, the judge told the OSBI that he used ChatGPT for research and wrote the order himself, and indicated that at least two case citations in the order, produced by ChatGPT, do not exist.","causal_attribution":"The judge's own statement to investigators as relayed in the district attorney's letter; all four reports rely on that letter, which was not read. The judge's attorney declined to comment."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'The judge issued the reprimand “for stooping to such frivolous trial tactics” and cautioned that future similar filings may be subject to further sanctions.'; '[The attorney] challenged the order at the Oklahoma Supreme Court in February. He told justices that Wheeler based his order on two cases, Cummings v. Cimarron Elevator Co. and Hawkins v. Linhart, that do not exist.'; '[The attorney] dismissed his challenge in March after Wheeler vacated the order. Wheeler is no longer involved in the paternity case.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'She said her attorney at the time challenged the ruling and began reviewing the legal authorities cited in the order.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"The order reprimanded the attorney who had asked for a psychological evaluation of the child's father 'for stooping to such frivolous trial tactics' and warned of further sanctions; that attorney challenged it at the Oklahoma Supreme Court in February 2026, saying it relied on two nonexistent cases, and dismissed the challenge in March after Wheeler vacated the order. The mother told News 9 that her attorney at the time challenged the ruling.","causal_attribution":"The Oklahoman's account of the court filings and the mother's account to News 9; the Supreme Court filings were not read."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'[The mother] said learning the citations were allegedly fabricated was alarming because the order involved the custody of a child.'; '“Then it became very concerning to me that somebody would do something like that over a child custody case,” she said.'; '“He then turned around and decided to recuse himself from my case,” she said. “He called my attorney that I had at the time and apologized to him.”'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"The mother told News 9 that learning the citations were allegedly fabricated was alarming because the order involved the custody of a child, and that the judge later recused himself from her case and apologised to her attorney.","causal_attribution":"The mother's first-person account in a broadcast interview."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'The OSBI investigated the judge at the request of the Oklahoma Council on Judicial Complaints.'; 'The OSBI also looked into allegations “that Judge Wheeler offered to amend the order in exchange for a dismissal of a writ seeking relief from the Oklahoma Supreme Court” and that he “eavesdropped on jury deliberations,” the DA disclosed in the letter.'; 'Prosecutors in the AG’s office “thoroughly reviewed the results of the investigation and determined the evidence does not support a criminal prosecution,” the AG’s press secretary, Leslie Berger, said on Sept. 2.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'The Criminal Justice Division of the Attorney General’s Office thoroughly reviewed the results of the investigation and determined the evidence does not support a criminal prosecution. The Oklahoma Supreme Court and the Court on the Judiciary possess ultimate jurisdiction over disciplinary actions for allegations of inappropriate behavior by judges regardless of whether the behavior constitutes a violation of a criminal statute.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"The OSBI investigated the judge at the request of the Council on Judicial Complaints, including allegations that he offered to amend the order in exchange for dismissal of the writ and that he eavesdropped on jury deliberations; the attorney general's office said the evidence did not support criminal prosecution and that judicial discipline rests with the Oklahoma Supreme Court and the Court on the Judiciary.","causal_attribution":"District attorney's letter and attorney general's statement as reported; no disciplinary finding has been made."}],"effects":[{"label":"the mother faced an order denying a psychological-evaluation request, with the judge citing authorities reported to have been generated by ChatGPT","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"},{"label":"the attorney who requested the evaluation was reprimanded in the order and sought relief from the Oklahoma Supreme Court before the order was vacated","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"},{"label":"the mother describes learning of the fabricated citations in her child custody case as alarming","claim_id":"c4","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://minnlawyer.com/2026/09/09/oklahoma-judge-ai-fabricated-case-citations/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"The Oklahoman's report (USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect) as republished by Minnesota Lawyer; read in full from the Wayback capture of 10 September 2026 because the live page returned 403. Its ChatGPT-admission passages relay the district attorney's letter; its account of the reprimand, the Supreme Court challenge and the vacatur draws on court filings and the attorney. Reinspected in the retained complete English body on 2026-10-06. All sources share the district-attorney-letter chain for AI involvement, so grouped conservatively together; the News 9 maternal interview is separate testimony about her experience, not a second verification of AI use.","independence_group":"wheeler-da-letter"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.aol.com/articles/oklahoma-judge-admitted-citing-fake-030000000.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"KFOR (Oklahoma City) report syndicated on AOL, read in full on 2026-09-29. Its account of the ChatGPT admission relays the same district attorney letter. Reinspected in the retained complete English body on 2026-10-06. All sources share the district-attorney-letter chain for AI involvement, so grouped conservatively together; the News 9 maternal interview is separate testimony about her experience, not a second verification of AI use.","independence_group":"wheeler-da-letter"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.news9.com/oklahoma-city-news/stephens-county-mother-speaks-out-after-judge-accused-of-using-chatgpt-in-custody-case","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"News 9 (Griffin Media) interview with the mother, read in full on 2026-09-29. Its description of the ChatGPT admission also relays the district attorney's letter; the mother's own account is independent of it. Reinspected in the retained complete English body on 2026-10-06. All sources share the district-attorney-letter chain for AI involvement, so grouped conservatively together; the News 9 maternal interview is separate testimony about her experience, not a second verification of AI use.","independence_group":"wheeler-da-letter"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://hoodline.com/2026/09/stephens-county-judge-faces-discipline-over-chatgpt-written-court-order/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Hoodline rewrite of the Reuters report, read in full on 2026-09-29. Reuters relays the same district attorney letter. Reinspected in the retained complete English body on 2026-10-06. All sources share the district-attorney-letter chain for AI involvement, so grouped conservatively together; the News 9 maternal interview is separate testimony about her experience, not a second verification of AI use.","independence_group":"wheeler-da-letter"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["institutional_use"],"contexts":["justice","relationships"],"unknowns":["The text of the order and whether the nonexistent citations were decisive for denying the evaluation and for the reprimand.","Whether any disciplinary proceeding follows from the Council on Judicial Complaints referral.","The current state of the custody case after the vacatur and the judge's departure from it.","The exact day in November 2025 on which the order was issued."],"geography":{"basis":"The Oklahoman, KFOR and News 9 locate the order and proceedings in Stephens County, Oklahoma, and the Oklahoma Supreme Court. These establish the event and court countries as US. News 9 calls the interviewee a Stephens County mother but gives no explicit residence evidence for either counted person, so affected_person_countries is unknown.","court_countries":["US"],"event_countries":["US"],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"This reported event connects specific ChatGPT-generated citations to an adverse order issued by a human judge. The Oklahoman and KFOR describe their use in the order, The Oklahoman reports the attorney's reprimand and successful challenge, and News 9 carries the mother's account. The AI admission is reported through one district attorney's letter, not independently verified model output. The family and attorney remain unnamed. No broader custody consequence or disciplinary finding is inferred.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-06"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The Oklahoman, KFOR and News 9 relay a district attorney's letter saying the judge acknowledged using ChatGPT for research and incorporating at least two nonexistent citations it produced into his order. The cited authorities were presented in support of the human judge's denial of a requested evaluation and his reprimand of the attorney. This supports informed_decision_about for the affected mother and attorney. It does not establish that ChatGPT itself decided custody or communicated with either of them. The underlying letter and order were not inspected, and whether the citations determined the outcome is unknown.","status":"supported"},"person_relations":["informed_decision_about"]},"name":"Prosecutor: judge used ChatGPT citations in Oklahoma custody order later vacated","summary":"In November 2025 Stephens County Associate District Judge Lawrence Wheeler issued an order in a child paternity and custody case that denied one parent's request for a psychological evaluation of the other parent and reprimanded the requesting parent's attorney 'for stooping to such frivolous trial tactics'. The attorney challenged the order at the Oklahoma Supreme Court in February 2026, telling the justices that it relied on two cases that do not exist; the challenge was dismissed in March after Wheeler vacated the order, and he is no longer on the case. According to a 17 August 2026 letter from the Stephens County district attorney, Wheeler told the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation that he used ChatGPT for research and wrote the order himself, and that at least two citations in it produced by ChatGPT do not exist. The mother in the case told News 9 that learning the order's citations were allegedly fabricated was alarming because it concerned the custody of a child. The attorney general's office declined criminal prosecution; judicial discipline remains possible.","incidentDate":"2025-11-01","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2026-09-09","aiSystem":"ChatGPT (OpenAI), used by the judge for legal research while preparing the order","aiProduct":"ChatGPT","aiCompany":"OpenAI","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["legal_harm","professional_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"According to the district attorney's letter as reported by The Oklahoman and KFOR, a judge acknowledged that his custody-case order contained at least two nonexistent citations supplied by ChatGPT. The order denied a request for a psychological evaluation and reprimanded the requesting attorney. The attorney challenged it at the Oklahoma Supreme Court before it was vacated. The mother described the discovery as alarming in a News 9 interview. The order and letter have not been inspected directly.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":2,"affectedCountStatus":"documented_minimum","affectedCountEvidence":"Two people affected through the judge's use of ChatGPT: the mother, whose request for a psychological evaluation was denied by the order and who describes the discovery as alarming (News 9), and the attorney who requested the evaluation and was reprimanded in the order and challenged it at the Oklahoma Supreme Court (The Oklahoman). The child and the other parent are not counted because no harm to them is reported. The judge, the AI user, is not counted: he faces a possible disciplinary process but no sanction has been reported and the complaint bundled other allegations.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"US-OK","platformType":"assistant","outcomeType":"investigation_opened","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://minnlawyer.com/2026/09/09/oklahoma-judge-ai-fabricated-case-citations/","primarySourceLabel":"The Oklahoman via Minnesota Lawyer, 9 September 2026: judge used ChatGPT citations in custody order","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-29T09:10:18.787549+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-06T04:48:44.069668+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["justice","family-court","judge","fabricated-citations","chatgpt","institutional-use","oklahoma"]},{"id":"2025-chiranjeevi-ai-deepfake-porn-videos-hyderabad-cybercrime-complaint","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'అక్టోబర్‌ 25న ఇచ్చిన లిఖిత పూర్వక ఫిర్యాదులో, కొందరు వెబ్‌సైట్లు తన రూపంలో కృత్రిమ మేధ (AI) సహాయంతో అసభ్య దృశ్యాలు సృష్టించి వ్యాప్తి చేస్తున్నట్లు తెలిపారు.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'ఆర్టిఫిషియల్ ఇంటెలిజెన్స్ (ఏఐ) టెక్నాలజీని ఉపయోగించి, తన ముఖాన్ని మార్ఫింగ్ చేసి అశ్లీల (పోర్న్) వీడియోలను సృష్టిస్తున్నారని ఆయన తన ఫిర్యాదులో పేర్కొన్నారు.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"On 25 October 2025 the actor and former Union minister Chiranjeevi gave Hyderabad cybercrime police a written complaint that pornographic websites were publishing obscene videos made with AI that morphed his face and likeness.","causal_attribution":"The complainant's account; the videos' creators were not identified in the read sources."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Based on the complaint, the police have registered a case under Sections 67 and 67A of the IT Act, Sections 79, 294, 296 and 336(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and Sections 2(c), 3 and 4 of the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'చిరంజీవి ఫిర్యాదు మేరకు పోలీసులు ఐటీ చట్టంలోని సెక్షన్లు 67, 67ఏ, భారతీయ న్యాయ సంహిత (BNS)లోని సెక్షన్లు 79, 294, 296, 336(4)తో పాటు పలు ఇతర చట్టాల కింద కేసు నమోదు చేశారు.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Police registered a case under Sections 67 and 67A of the IT Act, Sections 79, 294, 296 and 336(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act.","causal_attribution":"Police registration of the case as reported; no arrest is reported in the read sources."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'In his complaint, Chiranjeevi condemned the videos as “malicious” and said they have caused “severe and irreparable harm” to his reputation. “These fabricated clips distort public perception, undermine decades of goodwill, and inflict personal and emotional distress on me and my family,” he stated.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'వీడియోల కొనసాగుతున్న ప్రచారం తన మానసిక ఆరోగ్యానికీ, గౌరవానికీ నష్టం కలిగిస్తోందని పేర్కొన్నారు.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"In his complaint he said the videos caused severe and irreparable harm to his reputation and personal and emotional distress to him and his family.","causal_attribution":"His own statement of the effects in the complaint."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'ఇలాంటి కంటెంట్‌ ప్రచారం నిరోధించేందుకు ఇప్పటికే హైదరాబాద్‌ సిటీ సివిల్‌ కోర్టు ప్రధాన న్యాయమూర్తి నుంచి తాత్కాలిక నిషేధాజ్ఞ కూడా పొందినట్లు తెలిపారు.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'వాటిని తొలగించాలని సిటీ సివిల్కోర్టును సెప్టెంబరులో ఆశ్రయించారు. దీంతో కోర్టు అదే నెల 26న ఆయా వెబ్సైట్లలో కంటెంట్తొలగించాలని ఆదేశాలు జారీ చేసింది.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s5"}],"assertion":"Before the police complaint he had obtained an interim injunction from the Hyderabad City Civil Court; V6 Velugu reports that he approached that court in September 2025 over deepfake obscene videos on porn sites and that on 26 September it ordered the content removed from those websites.","causal_attribution":"Court order as reported; the order itself was not inspected. Locator for s5 is quoted with zero-width characters removed."}],"effects":[{"label":"AI-made obscene videos using his likeness published on pornographic sites; he reported reputational harm and emotional distress to himself and his family","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.telugupost.com/top-stories/chiranjeevi-deepfake-cybercrime-complaint-hyderabad-1595809","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"te","translation_note":"Read live in Telugu on 2026-09-29 (published 27 October 2025); summarises the written complaint. Researcher translation.","independence_group":"chiranjeevi-complaint"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.ap7am.com/tn/846021/chiranjeevi-lodges-police-complaint-over-deepfake-pornographic-content","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"te","translation_note":"Read live in Telugu on 2026-09-29 (published 27 October 2025); quotes the complaint and the sections registered. Researcher translation.","independence_group":"chiranjeevi-complaint"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://gulfnews.com/entertainment/chiranjeevi-files-complaint-over-ai-deepfake-vulgar-videos-on-adult-sites-says-it-distressed-his-family-1.500324422","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read live in English on 2026-09-29 (published 28 October 2025); quotes the complaint as reported by ANI.","independence_group":"chiranjeevi-complaint"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://www.newsx.com/offbeat/chiranjeevi-deepfake-mms-case-actor-approaches-police-over-ai-generated-obscene-videos-276933/","kind":"news_relay","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read live in English on 2026-09-29 (published 28 September 2026). A recap of the October 2025 complaints that gives no event dates; its only unique content is the Hyderabad police commissioner's statement. Not used for dates.","independence_group":"chiranjeevi-complaint"},{"id":"s5","url":"https://www.v6velugu.com/megastar-chiranjeevi-complaint-on-social-media-trolls-against-hyderbad-cyber-crimes-police-station","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"te","translation_note":"Read live in Telugu on 2026-09-29 (29 October 2025); reports a second complaint about abusive posts and recaps the civil suit and the deepfake complaint. Researcher translation.","independence_group":"chiranjeevi-complaint"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["privacy","everyday_life"],"unknowns":["Who made and uploaded the videos, and whether anyone has been arrested.","When the videos first appeared online; V6 Velugu reports a civil suit over them in September 2025, so they circulated by then.","Whether the videos were removed from the websites.","The exact complaint date: Telugupost says the written complaint was given on 25 October 2025; V6 Velugu dates it to 27 October 2025."],"geography":{"basis":"The complaint was filed with Hyderabad cybercrime police in Telangana, India (Telugupost; Gulf News). Before the complaint he had obtained an interim injunction from the Hyderabad City Civil Court, which Telugupost says was aimed at stopping the spread of such content and which V6 Velugu says ordered the content removed from the websites on 26 September 2025. Where the websites are hosted is not stated.","court_countries":["IN"],"event_countries":["IN"],"affected_person_countries":["IN"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as a core case (AI-generated sexual videos depicting a named public figure without consent, with a registered police case). The account rests on his complaint as reported by Telugu and English outlets. No imagery is described beyond the complaint's terms. The lead arrived through a September 2026 recap; the event dates come from October 2025 reporting.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-29"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The complaint, as reported, says the videos were made with AI technology that morphed his face into obscene content (Telugupost; ap7am; Gulf News via ANI). No forensic finding is reported and the tool is not named.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["depicted_or_impersonated"]},"name":"Hyderabad, India: actor Chiranjeevi files a cybercrime complaint over AI-generated obscene videos using his face on pornographic websites; police register a case under the IT Act and BNS","summary":"On 25 October 2025 the Telugu actor and former Union minister Konidela Chiranjeevi gave Hyderabad cybercrime police a written complaint that several pornographic websites were publishing obscene videos made with AI that morphed his face and likeness, and asked for a criminal and technical investigation and removal of the content, including from mirror sites. Police registered a case under Sections 67 and 67A of the IT Act, several sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act. In the complaint he said the videos caused severe and irreparable harm to his reputation and personal and emotional distress to him and his family. He had already obtained an ad-interim injunction from the Hyderabad City Civil Court protecting his name, image and likeness (Gulf News); V6 Velugu reports that he had gone to that court in September 2025 over the same kind of deepfake videos and that on 26 September it ordered their removal. A September 2026 NewsX recap reports that Hyderabad Police Commissioner V C Sajjanar said the cybercrime team was working to trace those responsible.","incidentDate":"2025-10-25","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"day","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2025-10-27","aiSystem":"Unnamed AI tools used to morph his face into obscene videos (per his complaint)","aiProduct":"Unidentified video tool","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["reputational_harm","psychological_distress"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"AI-generated obscene videos using his likeness were published on pornographic websites; he reported severe harm to his reputation and emotional distress to himself and his family (his complaint via Telugupost, ap7am and Gulf News/ANI).","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One depicted person, Chiranjeevi (his complaint). His family's reported distress is his statement and is not counted separately. Exact 1.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"IN-TG","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"investigation_opened","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.telugupost.com/top-stories/chiranjeevi-deepfake-cybercrime-complaint-hyderabad-1595809","primarySourceLabel":"Telugupost, 27 October 2025: డీప్‌ఫేక్‌ అసభ్య వీడియోలపై చిరంజీవి సైబర్‌ క్రైమ్ కు ఫిర్యాదు","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-29T03:22:09.016588+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:16:59.537311+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["deepfakes","deepfake-pornography","non-consensual-intimate-imagery","tollywood","hyderabad","telangana","india","police-complaint","depicted-or-impersonated"]},{"id":"2025-muar-johor-school-ai-deepfake-three-pupils-expelled","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Sebuah sekolah Cina di Muar, Johor, mengambil tindakan buang sekolah terhadap tiga pelajar lelaki kerana menggunakan kecerdasan buatan (AI) untuk menghasilkan imej lucah deepfake melibatkan rakan sekelas perempuan mereka' (a Chinese school in Muar, Johor, expelled three male pupils for using AI to produce indecent deepfake images involving their female classmates); 'China Press melaporkan bahawa sebahagian daripada imej yang diubahsuai itu tersebar di internet, melibatkan sekurang-kurangnya dua pelajar perempuan yang telah membuat laporan polis' (China Press reported that some of the altered images spread on the internet, involving at least two female pupils who lodged police reports).","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'3名涉案学生分别就读初二、初三及高一。据了解，他们利用人工智能软体，将多名女生的头像合成至不雅照片中，部分影像更已在网路上流传' (the three pupils are in junior two, junior three and senior one; they used AI software to composite several girls' faces into indecent photos, some of which had already circulated online); '至少有2名女学生受害，受害者已向警方报案' (at least two girls were affected and the victims have reported to police).","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'expelled three male students for using artificial intelligence to make explicit AI deepfake images of their female classmates'; 'affecting at least two female students who filed police reports'.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Three male pupils in Forms 2, 3 and 4 at a Chinese secondary school in Muar used AI software to composite several female classmates' faces onto indecent images; some of the images spread on the internet; at least two girls lodged police reports.","causal_attribution":"School statement and principal's account as first reported by China Press and relayed by FMT and Seehua; single reporting chain."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'校方是本周一接获校内流传不雅合成照片的消息，鉴于事态严重，立即展开调查，并在确认涉案学生与受害女生身分后，安排双方家长到校会面' (the school received word on Monday this week that composited indecent photos were circulating in the school, began an investigation immediately given the seriousness, and after confirming the identities of the pupils involved and the affected girls arranged for both sets of parents to meet at the school); '男生家长也接受校方开除学籍的决定' (the boys' parents accepted the school's decision to expel them).","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'telah membuang pelajar Tingkatan 2, 3 dan 4 tersebut selaras peraturan sekolah' (expelled the Form 2, 3 and 4 pupils in line with school rules); 'Ibu bapa ketiga-tiga pelajar terbabit menerima keputusan sekolah untuk membuang mereka' (the parents of all three pupils accepted the school's decision to expel them).","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The school was told of the images on Monday 1 December 2025, investigated immediately, met the parents of all pupils involved, expelled the three boys under its rules citing zero tolerance, urged the victims to report to police and parents to delete such images; the boys' parents accepted the decision.","causal_attribution":"School statement and principal's account; single chain."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'麻坡警区主任拉益慕克里兹受询时证实，警方已接获相关报案，并已传召涉案男学生协助调查，案件仍在进一步调查中' (the Muar district police chief confirmed when asked that police had received the reports, had summoned the boys involved to assist the investigation, and the case was still under investigation).","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'Ketua Polis Muar ... mengesahkan laporan telah diterima dan siasatan sedang dijalankan' (the Muar police chief confirmed reports had been received and an investigation was under way).","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The Muar district police chief confirmed that reports had been received, that the boys had been summoned to assist the investigation, and that an investigation was under way.","causal_attribution":"Police chief's confirmation as quoted in the same reports."}],"effects":[{"label":"female classmates' faces were composited with AI onto indecent images, some of which spread online; at least two girls lodged police reports","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/bahasa/tempatan/2025/12/04/3-pelajar-dibuang-sekolah-buat-imej-lucah-rakan-sekelas-guna-ai","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"ms","translation_note":"Read in Malay on 2026-09-19 (FMT Malay edition, published 2025-12-04 11:03 UTC). Credits China Press; carries the school statement and the Muar police chief's confirmation. Model reading of the original; English glosses are the reviewer's.","independence_group":"china-press-school-and-police-2025-12-03"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2025/12/04/3-muar-students-booted-for-making-explicit-ai-deepfakes-of-classmates","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-19 (FMT, published 2025-12-04 10:49 UTC). English version of the same China Press-derived report.","independence_group":"china-press-school-and-police-2025-12-03"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://news.seehua.com/post/1412690","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"zh","translation_note":"Read in Chinese on 2026-09-19 through a Wayback Machine capture (the live page returns HTTP 403); Seehua, published 2025-12-03 22:37 +08:00, Muar dateline 3 December. Same school statement and police confirmation with more detail on the school's steps; no attribution to another outlet is shown, so independence from China Press is not established.","independence_group":"china-press-school-and-police-2025-12-03"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["education","privacy","justice"],"unknowns":["How many girls were affected beyond the two who lodged police reports; Seehua says several.","The ages of the three boys beyond their forms (Form 2 to Form 4, roughly 14 to 16).","When the images were made and how widely they circulated; the school learned of them on 1 December 2025.","The AI software used.","Any charge or outcome of the police investigation.","The China Press original was not read (HTTP 403), so the reporting chain is established from FMT's attribution only."],"geography":{"basis":"The school and the police district are in Muar, Johor, Malaysia; the pupils are of that school. No court proceeding is reported.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["MY"],"affected_person_countries":["MY"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as a harmful-artifact case involving minors with an institutional response and a police investigation, on the school's own statement and the district police chief's confirmation as relayed by three outlets in Malay, English and Chinese (one reporting chain, recorded as reported). The pupils are minors and unnamed; the school is described by type and district; the principal and police chief are not named in the record.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-19"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The school and the China Press report describe the images as AI deepfakes made with AI software ('menggunakan kecerdasan buatan (AI)', '利用人工智能软体'); the police confirmation does not describe the tool. No forensic finding and no tool name.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["depicted_or_impersonated"]},"name":"Muar, Johor: three boys were expelled from a Chinese secondary school for using AI to make indecent deepfake images of female classmates; some images spread online and at least two girls lodged police reports","summary":"In early December 2025 a Chinese secondary school in Muar, Johor, expelled three male pupils in Forms 2, 3 and 4 after finding they had used AI software to composite several female classmates' faces onto indecent images, some of which had spread online. The school said it was told of the images on Monday 1 December, investigated immediately, met the parents of all pupils involved, expelled the three under its rules with a stated zero-tolerance policy, and urged victims to lodge police reports and parents to delete any such images. The boys' parents accepted the decision. At least two girls lodged police reports; the Muar district police chief confirmed reports had been received, that the boys had been summoned to assist the investigation, and that an investigation was under way. No charge or later outcome has been reported.","incidentDate":"2025-12-01","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"repeated_interactions","reportedDate":"2025-12-03","aiSystem":"AI image software used by pupils to composite classmates' faces onto indecent images (software not identified)","aiProduct":"Unidentified image tool","severity":"high","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["exploitation_or_abuse","reputational_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"AI-composited indecent images of female classmates were made and some circulated online; at least two girls lodged police reports and the school expelled the three boys.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":2,"affectedCountStatus":"documented_minimum","affectedCountEvidence":"At least two female pupils lodged police reports ('sekurang-kurangnya dua pelajar perempuan yang telah membuat laporan polis'; '至少有2名女学生受害'); Seehua says several girls' faces were composited ('多名女生'), which is not quantified. The three expelled boys are not counted as harmed.","victimAgeRange":"minor","jurisdiction":"MY","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"investigation_opened","outcomeStatus":"unknown","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2025/12/04/3-muar-students-booted-for-making-explicit-ai-deepfakes-of-classmates","primarySourceLabel":"Free Malaysia Today, 4 December 2025: 3 Muar students booted for making explicit AI deepfakes of classmates (citing China Press)","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-20T03:19:35.893689+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:17:10.979949+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["deepfake","ncii","minors","school","malaysia","johor","expulsion","depicted-or-impersonated","image-based-abuse"]},{"id":"2026-shanghai-ai-generated-persona-online-romance-fraud-170k-yuan","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"«对方自称1992年出生，是知名三甲医院医生，手握医院物业工程项目资源» (she claimed to be born in 1992, a doctor at a well-known tertiary hospital, holding hospital property-engineering project resources); «陆续向对方转账共计17万元» (transferred a total of 170,000 yuan in instalments); «就连想要打一通视频电话，对方也会以母亲在一旁看管作为理由拒绝» (even a video call was refused on the ground that her mother was watching); «反复回想交往细节，…越想越不对劲，才到派出所报案» (thinking back over the details he felt something was wrong and went to the police station).","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"«在短短5个月时间里，…陆续向对方转账共计17万元» (in just five months he transferred 170,000 yuan in total); «去年开始与其频繁聊天» (frequent chatting began last year, i.e. 2025).","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Over five months the man transferred a total of 170,000 yuan to a woman he had met on a social platform in 2021 who claimed to be a 1992-born doctor at a well-known top-tier hospital with property-engineering projects to award; she refused meetings and video calls citing her mother; he reported to the police when the promised projects never materialised.","causal_attribution":"police account via the programme 案件聚焦, relayed by Jiupai News and Guangming Net; single official chain."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"«实际出生于1961年，现年65岁，她并无医生资质，仅曾在医院从事后勤保洁工作» (actually born in 1961, now 65, no medical qualification, had only done hospital logistics cleaning); «注意到部分视频角落有一行小字提示：本作品含AI生成内容» (noticed a small corner label on some videos: this work contains AI-generated content); «累计近七千条日常视频、上万粉丝，全都是AI磨皮、场景合成制作而成» (nearly 7,000 videos and 10,000-plus followers, all made with AI skin-smoothing and scene compositing); «一人分饰两角，利用多个账号，分别扮演自己和早已离世的母亲» (played two roles through multiple accounts, herself and her long-dead mother).","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"«…社交账号发布的累计近7000条日常视频、上万粉丝，全都是AI磨皮、场景合成制作而成» (the account's nearly 7,000 videos were all AI-processed).","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Police found the woman was born in 1961, aged 65, had no medical qualification and had worked as a hospital cleaner; her close to 7,000 videos were made with AI skin-smoothing and scene compositing, some carrying a small 'contains AI-generated content' label the victim had never noticed; she used multiple accounts to play herself and her deceased mother.","causal_attribution":"Police findings as presented in the programme; no independent chain."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"«全部被她用于医美护肤、购置衣物等个人挥霍。2009年，她还曾因诈骗罪被判处有期徒刑四年六个月» (all spent on cosmetic treatments and clothing; in 2009 she was sentenced to four years six months for fraud); «因涉嫌诈骗罪，已被公安机关依法采取刑事强制措施» (criminal coercive measures taken for suspected fraud).","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"«…曾于2009年因诈骗罪被判监4年半。目前，…因涉嫌诈骗罪已被公安机关采取刑事强制措施» (2009 fraud sentence of four and a half years; now under criminal coercive measures).","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"The 170,000 yuan was spent on cosmetic skin treatments and clothing; the woman had been sentenced to four years and six months for fraud in 2009; she is under criminal coercive measures for suspected fraud.","causal_attribution":"Police statement relayed by press."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"«同时与十余人保持暧昧关系» (simultaneously kept ambiguous relationships with more than ten people). (police-attributed sentence in the Epoch Times)","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"},{"locator":"headline: '65岁阿姨AI换脸装“90后”美女，谈10多个暧昧对象' (the s1 body text does not repeat it)","relation":"context","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Police said the woman simultaneously kept ambiguous relationships with more than ten people; no loss by anyone else is reported.","causal_attribution":"Police statement relayed by the Epoch Times; context only, no further victims quantified."}],"effects":[{"label":"a man transferred 170,000 yuan over five months to a fabricated AI-processed persona and the money is reported spent","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://m.gmw.cn/2026-09/16/content_1304564495.htm","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"zh","translation_note":"Read in Chinese on 2026-09-19 (Guangming Net, 16 September 2026, sourced to 贵阳晚报). Marks the victim's name as a pseudonym (化名). Same police-programme chain as the other sources. Model-read original; English glosses unreviewed by a bilingual human. Chain line '综合：法治日报、案件聚焦、深圳新闻网'.","independence_group":"shanghai-police-case-focus-programme"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://news.qq.com/rain/a/20260915A0CNH000","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"zh","translation_note":"Read in Chinese on 2026-09-19 (Jiupai News on Tencent News, 15 September 2026; body recovered from the page's script payload). Carries the attribution line 来源：案件聚焦、看看新闻. Same chain as s1. Its lede reads '五年网恋' where its body and s1 say five months; the Jiaohuidian copy of the same text reads '关注对方账号五年、五个月网恋', so the lede is a truncation. Jiupai does not mark the names as pseudonyms; s1, s3 and s4 do.","independence_group":"shanghai-police-case-focus-programme"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.stheadline.com/zh-hans/realtime-china/3616014/AI%E5%8F%98%E8%84%B8%E9%AA%97%E5%B1%8065%E5%B2%81%E6%B8%85%E6%B4%81%E9%98%BF%E5%A7%A8%E4%BC%AA%E8%A3%8590%E5%90%8E%E7%BE%8E%E5%A5%B3%E5%8C%BB%E7%94%9F-%E4%B8%8A%E6%B5%B7%E7%94%B7%E7%BD%91%E6%81%8B5%E4%B8%AA%E6%9C%88%E8%A2%AB%E9%AA%9717%E4%B8%87","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"zh","translation_note":"Read in Chinese on 2026-09-19 (Sing Tao Headline, Hong Kong; '综合内媒报道', a digest of mainland reports). Marks both names as pseudonyms. Same chain.","independence_group":"shanghai-police-case-focus-programme"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/26/9/17/n14851558.htm","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"zh","translation_note":"Read in Chinese on 2026-09-19 (Epoch Times, 17 September 2026; '据大陆媒体报导'). Adds the police statement that the suspect kept ambiguous relationships with more than ten people. Same chain.","independence_group":"shanghai-police-case-focus-programme"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["relationships","finance"],"unknowns":["The months of the five-month relationship and of the police report are not stated; frequent chatting began in 2025 per Guangming Net, so the first known event year is recorded as 2025 at year precision.","The AI tools used to make the videos are not identified.","Whether prosecutors have charged the suspect, and whether any money was recovered, is not reported.","Whether any of the more than ten other contacts lost money is not reported.","The Kankan News 案件聚焦 broadcast page was not readable (script shell); the programme's account is known through press relays."],"geography":{"basis":"The victim is described as a Shanghai man (上海男子), the two were in the same city (同在一个城市) and the demanded flat was in Shanghai (在上海购置房产); no court proceeding is reported.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["CN"],"affected_person_countries":["CN"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as an impersonation case with a documented 170,000 yuan loss to one person, where police examined the AI-processed videos and their AI-content label. One official chain relayed by several outlets, so claims are recorded as reported. Both parties are pseudonymised in the reporting and the pseudonyms have been elided from the quoted passages here.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-19"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"police, via the Kankan News programme 案件聚焦, said officers found an AI-generated-content label on some of the suspect's videos and established that her roughly 7,000 videos were produced with AI skin-smoothing and scene compositing. The AI content depicted a fabricated young persona shown to the victim, which is why depicted_or_impersonated is recorded; the chat itself was conducted by the suspect, so communicated_with is not recorded. Single official chain relayed by several outlets.","status":"supported"},"person_relations":["depicted_or_impersonated"]},"name":"Shanghai: a man transferred 170,000 yuan over a five-month online romance with a '1992-born hospital doctor' whose roughly 7,000 videos were AI-processed fabrications by a 65-year-old woman; police took criminal coercive measures","summary":"police, as presented by the Kankan News programme 案件聚焦 (Case Focus), reported in September 2026 that a Shanghai property-engineering contractor had transferred 170,000 yuan in total during a five-month online relationship with a woman he had met on a social platform in 2021. She presented herself as born in 1992, a doctor at a well-known top-tier hospital with hospital property-engineering projects to award, and ran an account with more than 10,000 followers and close to 7,000 short videos of daily life. She refused to meet or take a video call, saying her mother opposed the relationship and demanded a 300,000 yuan bride price and a Shanghai flat; the man reported to a police station when the promised projects never materialised and his savings ran down. Police found she was born in 1961, aged 65, had no medical qualification and had worked as a hospital cleaner; the receiving bank account was registered to another man; the videos were all made with AI skin-smoothing and scene compositing, some carrying a small 'this work contains AI-generated content' label he had never noticed; and she used multiple accounts to play both herself and her long-dead mother. The money had gone on cosmetic treatments and clothing; she had a 2009 fraud conviction with a sentence of four and a half years and is now under criminal coercive measures for suspected fraud. Police also said she kept ambiguous relationships with more than ten people; no other losses are reported.","incidentDate":"2025-01-01","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"year","exposurePattern":"cumulative_relationship","reportedDate":"2026-09-15","aiSystem":"AI video processing ('AI磨皮、场景合成': AI skin-smoothing and scene compositing) used to produce close to 7,000 short videos of a fabricated young 'doctor' persona; tools not identified","aiProduct":"Unidentified AI video-editing tool","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["financial_loss"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"A Shanghai man transferred 170,000 yuan over five months to a fabricated 'doctor' persona whose videos police found were AI-processed; the money is reported spent and no recovery is reported.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One man with a documented loss of 170,000 yuan. Police said the suspect kept ambiguous relationships with more than ten other people, but no loss by anyone else is reported, so they are not counted.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"CN","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"investigation_opened","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://m.gmw.cn/2026-09/16/content_1304564495.htm","primarySourceLabel":"Guangming Net (光明网), 16 September 2026: 65岁阿姨AI换脸装“90后”美女，谈10多个暧昧对象 (Shanghai police programme 案件聚焦 via 贵阳晚报)","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-20T03:12:46.86943+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:17:53.218943+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["ai-generated-video","synthetic-persona","romance-fraud","shanghai","china","financial-loss","police-reported","ai-content-label"]},{"id":"2026-cileungsi-bogor-students-ai-deepfake-pornography","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Ratusan pelajar di Cileungsi, Kabupaten Bogor, diedit pakai AI dan dijadikan konten pornografi. Kasus itu kini diselidiki kepolisian.'; 'Sejauh ini yang di kami baru lapor tiga orang, tapi satu laporan, kita masih dalami kasus tersebut termasuk si pembuat kontennya siapa'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Polres Bogor is investigating a report that pupils in Cileungsi had their faces edited with AI into pornographic content; three pupils have reported in one police report, and police are still identifying the maker and the program used.","causal_attribution":"Police statement; the police attribute nothing yet to a named person."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'ratusan pelajar sekolah swasta di Cileungsi Bogor menjadi korban deepfake AI dimana wajah mereka dimanipulasi dan diubah menjadi konten tidak senonoh'; 'pelaku mencuri foto korban dari akun media sosial masing-masing pelajar'; 'ada beberapa website yang sudah pernah diunggah seperti website judol dan lain-lain'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'kasus bermula setelah korban mendapat informasi dari temannya bahwa ada seseorang yang diduga membuat konten menggunakan wajahnya melalui teknologi AI'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"According to the witnesses' lawyer, hundreds of pupils of a private school in Cileungsi had photographs taken from their social-media accounts manipulated into nude photographs and pornographic videos, some uploaded to websites including an online-gambling site.","causal_attribution":"Lawyer's account of the scale; police confirm only the three complainants and the AI-edited content."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Kepolisian sudah mengantongi dua nama yang dilaporkan sebagai pelaku'; 'sebagai inisiator dan pembuat konten'; 'pelaku mengakui saat ditanya'; 'menemukan adanya ribuan foto serta video yang diduga hasil manipulasi AI di smartphone milik terduga pelaku'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Two former pupils have been reported as suspects, in the roles of initiator and content maker, and are said by the lawyer to have admitted the acts to witnesses; police reportedly found thousands of suspected AI-manipulated photos and videos on a suspect's phone.","causal_attribution":"Allegations relayed by the victims' lawyer; no charge announced."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Meski baru dilaporkan pada 19 Mei 2026, kasus ini diduga sudah berlangsung semenjak 2025 lalu, bahkan saat semua pihak (termasuk pelaku) masih berstatus pelajar'; 'terduga pelaku disebut telah lulus dari sekolah, beberapa korban masih berstatus pelajar dan beberapa lainnya sudah berstatus mahasiswa'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The case was reported to police on 19 May 2026 and is believed to have run since 2025 while all involved were pupils; the suspects have since graduated and some victims are now university students.","causal_attribution":"Timeline as reported by Uzone/Pojok Bogor."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Kita tidak bisa berasumsi saja, harus jelas, apalagi ini terkait Undang-Undang ITE, harus tahu benar dia yang membuat atau tidak, harus ada buktinya yang jelas'; 'penanganan perkara masih berada pada tahap awal'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Police say the investigation is at an early stage, that they must establish with clear evidence who made the content under the ITE Law, and that tracing the AI program used is a challenge.","causal_attribution":"Police statement."}],"effects":[{"label":"pupils' social-media photographs were turned into AI pornographic images and videos, some uploaded to public websites; three have filed a police report and the victims' lawyer says hundreds were affected","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://kumparan.com/kumparannews/ratusan-pelajar-di-bogor-jadi-korban-pornografi-deepfake-ai-polisi-selidiki-28CxcCG6rv6","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"id","translation_note":"Read in Indonesian on 2026-09-19 (Kumparan, 18 September 2026; quotes the Polres Bogor unit head by phone). Quotations translated by the reviewer.","independence_group":"polres-bogor-statement"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://uzone.id/ratusan-pelajar-cileungsi-jadi-korban-deepfake-ai-foto-jadi-porno","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"id","translation_note":"Read in Indonesian on 2026-09-19 (Uzone, relaying Pojok Bogor of 17 September 2026 and the witnesses' lawyer). The Pojok Bogor original was not fetched; grouped as one lawyer-account chain.","independence_group":"pojok-bogor-lawyer-account"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["education","privacy"],"unknowns":["The number of victims is disputed in scale: police count three complainants, the lawyer says hundreds.","The AI tools used are not identified.","No arrest, charge or court proceeding is reported; the suspects' admissions are relayed by the lawyer, not confirmed by police.","The school is not named in the inspected reports and is not recorded here.","The Pojok Bogor original article (16-17 September 2026) was not directly read; its account is taken from Uzone's relay."],"geography":{"basis":"Private school in Cileungsi, Bogor Regency, West Java; Polres Bogor investigating (Kumparan, Uzone). No court proceeding yet.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["ID"],"affected_person_countries":["ID"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as an image-based-abuse series against school pupils with a police-confirmed report and a lawyer-described scale, read in Indonesian from two chains (police via Kumparan; the victims' lawyer via Uzone/Pojok Bogor). Claims recorded as reported; the scale is attributed. Minors: no names, no school name, suspects' initials omitted; no imagery described beyond 'nude photographs and pornographic videos'.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-19"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"Police describe the content as made with AI technology and say they are still tracing the program used; the victims' lawyer describes AI-manipulated nude photos and pornographic videos, and thousands of suspected AI-manipulated files found on a suspect's phone. No tool is named and no forensic finding has been published.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["depicted_or_impersonated"]},"name":"Cileungsi, Bogor Regency, Indonesia: photographs of private-school pupils taken from social media were turned into AI pornographic images and videos, reportedly since 2025; three pupils have filed a joint police report, the victims' lawyer says hundreds were affected, and two former pupils are named as suspects","summary":"Bogor Regency police confirmed on 18 September 2026 that they are investigating a report that pupils of a private school in Cileungsi had their faces edited with artificial intelligence into pornographic content. The head of the women-and-children unit told Kumparan that so far three pupils had reported in a single police report, that the case began when a victim heard from a friend that someone was making content with their face using AI technology, and that investigators were still establishing who made the content and which program was used, under the Electronic Information and Transactions Law. A lawyer for the witnesses, quoted by Pojok Bogor and Uzone, says the victims number in the hundreds; that two former pupils, one as initiator and one as maker, have been reported and admitted the acts to witnesses; that police found thousands of suspected AI-manipulated photos and videos on a suspect's phone, some uploaded to websites including an online-gambling site; and that the case, reported on 19 May 2026, is believed to have run since 2025 while all involved were still pupils, some victims now being university students. Police say the case is at an early stage and asked the public not to draw conclusions.","incidentDate":"2025-01-01","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"year","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2026-05-19","aiSystem":"AI image- and video-manipulation tools (not identified; police say the program used is still being traced)","aiProduct":"Unidentified image and video tool","severity":"high","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["exploitation_or_abuse","psychological_distress","reputational_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"Pupils of a Cileungsi private school had their social-media photographs turned into AI pornographic images and videos, some reportedly uploaded to public websites; three have filed a police report and the victims' lawyer says hundreds were affected and asks for a swift process so they can focus on their studies. Attribution to the reported suspects rests on the lawyer's account of their admissions and on police examination of a phone; police have not announced charges.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":3,"affectedCountStatus":"partial","affectedCountEvidence":"Police: three pupils have reported in one police report (Kumparan, 18 Sep 2026). The victims' lawyer says the victims number in the hundreds (Uzone/Pojok Bogor). Three counted people plus additional unquantified victims: partial. 'Thousands of photos and videos' is a content count, not a person count.","victimAgeRange":"minor","jurisdiction":"ID","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"investigation_opened","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://kumparan.com/kumparannews/ratusan-pelajar-di-bogor-jadi-korban-pornografi-deepfake-ai-polisi-selidiki-28CxcCG6rv6","primarySourceLabel":"Kumparan, 18 September 2026: Ratusan Pelajar di Bogor Jadi Korban Pornografi Deepfake AI, Polisi Selidiki (Polres Bogor women-and-children unit statement)","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-19T03:17:35.203873+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:17:32.43216+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["deepfake","ncii","minors","school","indonesia","bogor","cileungsi","police-investigation","image-based-abuse"]},{"id":"2026-leal-ai-impersonation-immigration-scam","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"'his image and name and even his voice have been cloned with artificial intelligence to deceive desperate immigrants'; 'fake contracts bearing his firm's logo, forged signatures, websites that mimic his site... entirely fabricated immigration hearings'.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'criminals are creating fake videos using his image, voice and name'; the WhatsApp-to-Zelle/Venmo script.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'scammers have used AI to produce fake immigration hearings over Zoom to dupe immigrants'.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"Criminals used AI to clone Ángel Leal's image, name, voice, signature and firm logo, producing fake videos, look-alike websites, forged contracts and fabricated Zoom hearings that offered immigration services (residency, citizenship 'without an exam', work permits) he never provided.","causal_attribution":"Leal's own account, carried by four independent outlets."},{"id":"c2","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"'some victims end up with deportation orders without having filed any real paperwork, believing their case was in progress'; payments via Zelle/Venmo/Cash App.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'It's gotten to the point where I literally have one to two people every day, all day, answering calls of people who have been defrauded or scammed'.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"},{"locator":"Leal describes the harm to 'other people's needs'; ABA/AILA describe victims paying scammers who impersonated lawyers.","relation":"context","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Immigrants were defrauded of money paying for services Leal never provided, and some ended up with deportation orders believing their cases were in progress.","causal_attribution":"Reported by Leal and immigration-lawyer groups; individual victims are not named and the total is not quantified."},{"id":"c3","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"'6,454 fake profiles linked to these scams have been taken down' since March.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'in June alone... they had taken down over 6,600 fake videos and profiles'; 'Leal has filed a report with the Doral Police Department.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"Leal changed his phone number, hired an anti-piracy firm that removed thousands of fake profiles and videos (about 6,454 since March per NBC Miami; more than 6,600 by June per WLRN), and reported the fraud to Doral police and federal authorities.","causal_attribution":"Leal and his anti-piracy vendor, as reported; the two removal figures cover different windows."}],"effects":[{"label":"attorney's identity cloned with AI and used to defraud immigrants; reputational harm and business disruption to him, financial and legal harm to victims","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/scammers-impersonate-immigration-lawyers-rcna348238","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-17 (datePublished 2026-06-04). NBC News national report; Leal interview, FTC/FBI context, ABA and AILA comment.","independence_group":"nbc"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/south-florida-immigration-lawyers-identity-cloned-with-artificial-intelligence/3817579/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-17 (datePublished 2026-06-05). NBC6 South Florida; Leal interview, fake videos and WhatsApp/Zelle scheme; story translated from Spanish with an AI tool and editor-reviewed.","independence_group":"nbcmiami"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/south-florida-immigration-attorney-says-ai-scammers-are-using-his-identity-to-target-immigrants/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-17 via the Internet Archive capture 20260728171300 (CBS live returns HTTP 406); datePublished 2026-06-09. CBS News Miami; Leal interview, the $2,200 residency-video scheme, ~6,500 profiles removed.","independence_group":"cbsmiami"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://www.wlrn.org/immigration/2026-08-20/abogado-inmigracion-ai-scam-fraud","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-17 (datePublished 2026-08-20). WLRN Public Media; Leal realised the problem last October, one to two defrauded callers a day, 6,600+ removals in June, fake Zoom hearings, Doral police report.","independence_group":"wlrn"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["justice","finance","everyday_life"],"unknowns":["No individual defrauded immigrant is named and the total amount lost is not established; the reported per-victim figure (about $4,820/$5,000) comes from a Latin Times headline not inspected in full.","No arrests are reported and no defendant is identified.","Whether the fabricated 'deportation orders' outcome affected specific named people is not established."],"geography":{"basis":"Event: South Florida (Doral/Miami); Leal practises there and reported to Doral police (WLRN, NBC Miami). Affected people are immigrants in South Florida. No court proceeding established.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["US"],"affected_person_countries":["US"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as an AI-impersonation case with real harm: a named attorney's likeness and voice were cloned to defraud immigrants, causing him reputational and business harm and causing victims financial and reported legal harm. Four independent chains, including his own on-camera interviews; victim count left partial because individual victims are unquantified.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-17"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"Leal and multiple outlets state that his real videos were manipulated with AI to clone his face and voice; NBC News, NBC Miami, CBS Miami and WLRN carry his account, and an anti-piracy firm documented thousands of AI-generated fake profiles. The specific AI tools are not named.","status":"supported"},"person_relations":["depicted_or_impersonated"]},"name":"Miami: scammers cloned immigration attorney Ángel Leal's face and voice with AI to defraud immigrants seeking legal help","summary":"From around October 2025, criminals used AI to clone the image, voice, name, signature and firm logo of Ángel Leal, a long-established immigration attorney in Doral, Florida. They created fake videos, look-alike websites, forged contracts and even fabricated Zoom 'immigration hearings' to persuade immigrants to pay for legal services Leal never provided. Immigrants were defrauded of money, and some believed their cases were progressing when they were not; Leal received one to two defrauded callers a day, changed his phone number, hired an anti-piracy firm that removed thousands of fake profiles and videos, and reported the fraud to local police and federal authorities.","incidentDate":"2025-10-01","incidentKind":"ongoing_experience","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"repeated_interactions","reportedDate":"2026-06-04","aiSystem":"AI voice- and video-cloning / deepfake tools (not identified in the inspected reporting)","aiProduct":"Unidentified video tool","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["reputational_harm","financial_loss","legal_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"An immigration attorney's identity was cloned with AI and used to defraud immigrants, causing him reputational harm and business disruption (he changed his phone number and hired an anti-piracy firm) and causing defrauded immigrants financial loss, with some reportedly left facing deportation orders after believing their cases were progressing.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"partial","affectedCountEvidence":"One counted, identified harmed person: Ángel Leal, whose likeness and voice were cloned and whose practice was disrupted. An unquantified additional group of immigrants was defrauded (Leal reports one to two defrauded callers a day; one legal immigrant reportedly lost about $4,820 per a Latin Times headline not inspected in full); no reliable victim count is established, so the status is partial.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"US","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"investigation_opened","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/scammers-impersonate-immigration-lawyers-rcna348238","primarySourceLabel":"NBC News, 4 June 2026: Scammers impersonate immigration lawyers (Angel Leal interview; FTC/FBI context; ABA/AILA comment)","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-17T03:27:41.533841+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:17:43.85599+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["deepfake","voice-clone","impersonation","immigration","fraud","united-states","florida","depicted-or-impersonated"]},{"id":"2026-aarons-chatgpt-fabricated-testimony-sanction","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1a","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"Order passages quoted by Ars: contempt, $5,000 to the Client Protection Fund in 30 days, referral.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Reuters wire: 'on Sept 9' — fine, contempt, referral, and the Sandoval caption.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"ABA Journal, 24 Aug: the $5,000 contempt anticipated from the 21 Aug show-cause hearing (pre-order; advance reporting, context only).","relation":"context","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"By written order of 9 September 2026, the New Mexico Supreme Court held Stephen Aarons in direct contempt, fined him $5,000 payable to the State Bar Client Protection Fund within 30 days, and referred him to the disciplinary board.","causal_attribution":"The contempt, fine and referral are quoted by Ars Technica and confirmed by the Reuters wire; the ABA Journal's hearing-day account anticipated but could not confirm the later written order. The order PDF itself was not retrieved in this review."},{"id":"c1b","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Ars: removal, bar pending referral, briefs struck, reassignment (Kim Chavez Cook appointed 2 Sep).","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The order also removed Aarons from the case, barred him from appearing before the court pending the disciplinary-board referral, struck the filed briefs and reassigned the appeal to the public defender (Kim Chavez Cook, appointed 2 September 2026).","causal_attribution":"Single-chain detail from Ars Technica's account of the order; the Reuters wire does not carry these elements."},{"id":"c2","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"Ars passages: Rev.com transcript plus record into ChatGPT (o3); the named fabricated witnesses and false attributions; the admission of non-verification.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"ABA Journal: 'admits stupidity over AI errors' at the show-cause hearing.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"Reuters headline account: 'ChatGPT invented fake police testimony in murder appeal, New Mexico high court says'.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Aarons used ChatGPT (OpenAI o3) on a Rev.com transcript and the case record to draft the brief, which contained fabricated witnesses and testimony — officers 'Michelle Amarillo' and 'Sanchez', Manal Al-Jibury, Teresa Marquez, and false testimony attributed to Danny and Linda Stanton and Mariah Chavez — and misdescribed real precedents; he admitted at the hearing that he had not verified the output.","causal_attribution":"The fabrication and the admission are established by the attorney's own statements at the hearing and the court's findings as reported; no source reports a denial."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Ars: substitution of the public defender (Kim Chavez Cook, appointed 2 Sep); the court's remark about the client.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The client, Oscar Renee Sandoval, suffers a delayed appeal: the briefs were struck, Aarons was removed, and the public defender was substituted (appointed 2 September 2026); the court told Aarons 'your client is the one suffering'.","causal_attribution":"Single-chain detail from Ars Technica's account of the order; the delay's length is not stated."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Reuters wire via Straits Times: Sandoval caption, life sentence February 2025, Doña Ana County.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"Ars: brief filed ~Aug 2025; State's motion to strike weeks later.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The underlying case is the murder appeal of Oscar Renee Sandoval, sentenced to life in February 2025 in Doña Ana County for killing his partner Shiereen Al-Jibury; the brief was filed around August 2025 and the State moved to strike weeks later.","causal_attribution":"Background context, attributed to the wire and Ars; the docket number was not confirmed in this review."}],"effects":[{"label":"attorney sanctioned for ChatGPT-fabricated testimony; client's appeal delayed","claim_id":"c1a","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/09/chatgpt-using-lawyer-punished-for-citing-fake-testimony-from-made-up-witnesses/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-15 (11 Sep 2026, Brodkin). Quotes the 9 September order and the 21 August hearing; names the fabricated witnesses.","independence_group":"ars"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.straitstimes.com/world/united-states/chatgpt-invented-fake-police-testimony-in-murder-appeal-new-mexico-high-court-says","kind":"wire_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-15 (11 Sep 2026); Straits Times carrying the Reuters wire.","independence_group":"reuters"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.abajournal.com/news/article/criminal-defense-attorney-admits-stupidity-over-ai-errors-but-still-receives-sharp-rebuke-from-his-states-high-court","kind":"trade_press","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-15 (24 Aug 2026). Post-hearing report citing the Santa Fe New Mexican; the fine and contempt were anticipated from the hearing, not yet the written order.","independence_group":"aba-journal"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["work","justice"],"unknowns":["The 9 September 2026 order PDF was not directly inspected (nmcourts.gov search empty; form-based case lookup); the claims about it rest on two chains quoting it.","The underlying docket number is unconfirmed.","The disciplinary-board process and its outcome are pending.","The full set of fabricated or misdescribed citations beyond the named examples is not reported.","The ChatGPT product tier and whether the firm had verification policies are not reported."],"geography":{"basis":"Events: Santa Fe, New Mexico practice and the Doña Ana County murder case. Affected persons: the attorney and his client, both in New Mexico. Court: New Mexico Supreme Court.","court_countries":["US"],"event_countries":["US"],"affected_person_countries":["US"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as an own-use, work-context adverse consequence with a dated, quantified sanction and an admitted, judicially found AI link. This applies the charter's individual-review rule to the AI-sanction class; the retired ordinary_task_failure gate and a class-level ruling are not required. Aarons is a public officer of the court sanctioned by a public order and is named; his client's name appears in the public caption of the appeal. In a 2026-09-15 second pass the original compound first claim was split: the corroborated contempt/fine/referral stand as c1a, and the Ars-only order elements (removal, bar, struck briefs, reassignment) stand as reported c1b. person_relations recorded in the same pass.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-15"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The AI link is admitted and judicially found: Aarons fed a Rev.com transcript and the record into ChatGPT (OpenAI o3), and the court's order addresses the fabricated content in the filed brief; he admitted at the show-cause hearing that he had not verified the output.","status":"supported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"New Mexico Supreme Court fines attorney Stephen Aarons $5,000 and removes him from a murder appeal over ChatGPT-fabricated testimony","summary":"Santa Fe defense attorney Stephen Aarons used ChatGPT (OpenAI's o3) on a Rev.com transcript and the record to draft briefing in the murder appeal of Oscar Renee Sandoval; the brief contained fabricated witnesses and testimony (including police officers 'Michelle Amarillo' and 'Sanchez' and invented testimony attributed to real people) and misdescribed real precedents. After a 21 August 2026 show-cause hearing at which Aarons admitted he had not verified the output, the New Mexico Supreme Court's written order of 9 September 2026 held him in direct contempt, fined him $5,000 payable to the State Bar Client Protection Fund within 30 days, removed him from the case, barred him from appearing before the court pending a disciplinary-board referral, struck the filed briefs and reassigned the appeal to the public defender.","incidentDate":"2025-08-01","incidentEndDate":"2026-09-09","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"range","exposurePattern":"single_interaction","reportedDate":"2026-08-24","aiSystem":"ChatGPT (OpenAI o3)","aiProduct":"ChatGPT","aiCompany":"OpenAI","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["professional_harm","legal_harm","financial_loss"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"A dated, quantified professional sanction for the attorney who relied on ChatGPT's output: $5,000 fine, direct-contempt finding, removal from the case, a bar on appearing before the court pending a disciplinary-board referral, and struck briefs; his client's appeal is delayed as a result.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"established","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"Two documented harmed people. The user: Aarons, sanctioned (court order reported by Ars Technica and Reuters). Another person's use consequence: his client Sandoval, whose appeal is delayed by the struck briefs and the substitution of counsel (Ars quotes the court's 'your client is the one suffering'). No further harmed persons are reported; the victim's family is not counted (no harm to them is reported).","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"US","platformType":"assistant","outcomeType":"regulatory_action","outcomeStatus":"resolved","primarySourceUrl":"https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/09/chatgpt-using-lawyer-punished-for-citing-fake-testimony-from-made-up-witnesses/","primarySourceLabel":"Ars Technica (11 Sep 2026) — quotes the 9 Sep order and the 21 Aug show-cause hearing","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-15T06:16:05.506355+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:17:22.660417+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["work","justice","legal-profession","sanction","fabricated-citations","chatgpt","own-use","new-mexico"]},{"id":"2025-heacock-ai-sextortion-death","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"'Local teenager Eli Heacock died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound last month'; 'he took his life on Feb 28'; 'at 11:30 p.m. on that Thursday night, Eli's twin sister found him'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'He died by suicide shortly after receiving the message, CBS affiliate KFDA reported'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'After their 16-year-old son died by suicide, a Kentucky family is pushing for stronger sextortion laws'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'Elijah Heacock died Feb. 28 at a local hospital, WBKO-TV reported'; 'the Barren County Sheriff's Office responded to the hospital on Feb. 27'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"Elijah Heacock, 16, a Caverna High School student in Barren County, Kentucky, died by suicide on 28 February 2025 after being found injured at home on the night of 27 February.","causal_attribution":"The death is reported independently by WKMS (own reporting) and CBS (citing KFDA), with Spectrum and the WBKO/ABC relay consistent; the 27/28 February dates come from WKMS and NewsNation."},{"id":"c2","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"'During a search of Eli's phone, AI-generated images used to extort the young man were discovered. The offender created the images, some sexually explicit, and sent them to Eli. They then threatened to release the pictures unless Eli sent them $3,000.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'when Elijah received a threatening text with an A.I.-generated nude photo of himself demanding he pay $3,000 to keep it from being sent to friends and family, everything changed'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'a perpetrator threatened him, saying he needed to send $3,000 or they would release sexually explicit images of him'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'fake, AI-generated nude images'; 'Though the photos were not real, it's unclear whether Elijah Heacock knew they were AI-generated.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"Investigators found on his phone AI-generated images of him, some sexually explicit, sent by an anonymous extortionist who threatened to release them unless he paid $3,000.","causal_attribution":"WKMS attributes the AI-generated finding to investigators' search of the phone; CBS's account rests on the parents' interview. Whether he knew the images were fake is unknown (NewsNation)."},{"id":"c3","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"'His parents told Spectrum News 1 that Heacock sent $50, but did not have enough to cover the rest.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'Shannon Heacock said she found texts indicating that her son had sent some money to the scammer, to which the scammer replied, \"This is not enough,\" she told ABC News.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"},{"locator":"Best friend: 'The last message I got from him was, \"I love you so much\"' after Eli asked to borrow money that night.","relation":"context","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"He sent a partial payment of $50 and the extortionist replied that it was 'not enough'.","causal_attribution":"Both accounts are the parents' descriptions of the messages on his phone, given to two separate outlets; the $50 figure appears only in Spectrum."},{"id":"c4","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"'The FBI continues to investigate. The family hopes the exploiter will be caught and charged with murder.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'a sheriff's detective reviewed Elijah Heacock's phone and escalated the case to the FBI'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"The Barren County Sheriff's Office escalated the case to the FBI, which was still investigating; no arrest has been reported.","causal_attribution":"Investigation status as of the inspected reports (March and June 2025); nothing later was inspected."},{"id":"c5","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"'Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear signed a bill into law this month, making sextortion a felony. It also mandates education about sextortion in schools and in law enforcement agencies.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'state lawmakers passed a bill that establishes sexual extortion as a felony, and mandates training about the topic at schools and law enforcement agencies. Gov. Andy Beshear, D-Kentucky, signed it into law.'; Rep. Guthrie on the Take It Down Act","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'The recently-passed \"Take It Down\" Act... makes it a federal crime to post real and fake sexually explicit images'; 'They said they hope the \"Take It Down\" Act will make a difference.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Kentucky's governor signed a law in March 2025 making sexual extortion a felony and mandating education in schools and law-enforcement agencies; the parents publicly supported the federal Take It Down Act, signed in May 2025.","causal_attribution":"Legislative context reported by three outlets; the Kentucky law is described, not inspected."}],"effects":[{"label":"a 16-year-old was extorted with AI-generated sexual images of himself and died by suicide","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.wkms.org/health/2025-03-24/suicide-of-ky-teen-investigated-as-financial-sextortion","kind":"public_radio_news","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-16 (datePublished 2025-03-24; WKU Public Radio, Lisa Autry); own interviews with his mother, father and best friend; quotes the KSP Electronic Crime Branch commander.","independence_group":"wkms"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sextortion-generative-ai-scam-elijah-heacock-take-it-down-act/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-16 from the Internet Archive capture of 28 December 2025 (datePublished 2025-05-31; CBS Saturday Morning interview with the parents); the live URL answers HTTP 406 to this box. The article attributes the death report to CBS affiliate KFDA and the advocacy to WLKY.","independence_group":"cbs"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://spectrumnews1.com/ky/louisville/news/2025/04/10/sextortion-kentucky-elijah-heacock","kind":"local_tv_news","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-16 (datePublished 2025-04-10; Glasgow, Ky. dateline; the parents' own statements to Spectrum News 1).","independence_group":"spectrum"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://www.newsnationnow.com/business/tech/ai/teen-suicide-ai-images/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-16 from the Internet Archive capture of 26 November 2025 (datePublished 2025-06-11); the live URL answers HTTP 403. NewsNation relays WBKO-TV and ABC News interviews with the parents, so it is grouped with those originals rather than counted as independent.","independence_group":"wbko-abc"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["everyday_life","privacy"],"unknowns":["The tool used to generate the images and the identity or location of the extortionist are not reported; no arrest has been reported in the inspected sources.","Whether he knew the images were AI-generated is unclear (NewsNation).","When the extortion messages began is not reported; the record uses the night of 27 February (when his friend received his last messages and the sheriff reviewed the phone) and the 28 February death date.","The earliest local report (WBKO-TV, cited by NewsNation) was not inspected: its URL answers HTTP 404; the reported_date uses the earliest inspected report (WKMS, 24 March 2025).","The CBS article's cited affiliate reports (KFDA, WLKY) were not inspected.","Investigation status after June 2025 was not researched in this review."],"geography":{"basis":"Event and residence: Barren County (Glasgow area), Kentucky, per WKMS ('In southern Kentucky, the Barren County community') and Spectrum's Glasgow, Ky. dateline. No court proceeding is reported; the extortionist has not been identified.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["US"],"affected_person_countries":["US"]},"publication":{"basis":"Restored under the 2026-09-15 charter as a harmful-artifact case with a reported death: AI-generated sexual images of a minor were used to extort him and he died by suicide. The death and the AI connection are each carried by two independent inspected chains (WKMS own reporting and CBS), meeting the additional death rule; causation rests on investigators and the family, recorded as supported, not established. He is named because his parents campaign publicly in his name; the method of death is not described here.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-16"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"WKMS reports that investigators searching his phone found AI-generated images used to extort him, and quotes the Kentucky State Police Electronic Crime Branch commander on AI-generated exploitation; CBS separately describes the extortion message as carrying an AI-generated nude photo of him. The generation tool is not identified in any inspected source.","status":"supported"},"person_relations":["depicted_or_impersonated"]},"name":"Kentucky: Elijah Heacock, 16, died by suicide after a sextortion demand backed by AI-generated nude images of him","summary":"Elijah Heacock, a 16-year-old Caverna High School student in Barren County, Kentucky, died by suicide on 28 February 2025. Investigators searching his phone found AI-generated images of him, some sexually explicit, that an anonymous extortionist had sent with a demand for $3,000 and a threat to share them with his family and friends; his parents say he sent a small partial payment and was told it was 'not enough'. The Barren County Sheriff's Office escalated the case to the FBI, which was still investigating in the inspected reports; no arrest has been reported. His parents have campaigned publicly, Kentucky made sextortion a felony in March 2025, and the family supported the federal Take It Down Act.","incidentDate":"2025-02-27","incidentEndDate":"2025-02-28","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"range","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2025-03-24","aiSystem":"AI image-generation or manipulation tools (unspecified; investigators described the extortion images as AI-generated)","aiProduct":"Unidentified image tool","severity":"critical","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["death","exploitation_or_abuse","psychological_distress"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"A 16-year-old was extorted with AI-generated sexual images of himself and a $3,000 demand, and died by suicide the same night his best friend received his last message; investigators and his parents connect the death to the sextortion.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person, Elijah Heacock, was depicted in the AI-generated images and died; his family members are not counted.","victimAgeRange":"minor","jurisdiction":"US","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"investigation_opened","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.wkms.org/health/2025-03-24/suicide-of-ky-teen-investigated-as-financial-sextortion","primarySourceLabel":"WKMS / WKU Public Radio, 24 March 2025: investigators found AI-generated images used to extort him; KSP Electronic Crime Branch commander quoted","firstPublishedAt":"2026-03-09T05:43:08.739008+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:17:04.61944+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["sextortion","deepfake","minor","kentucky","suicide","depicted-or-impersonated","take-it-down-act"]},{"id":"2025-hku-deepfake-scandal","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"'a University of Hong Kong (HKU) law student fabricated pornographic deepfakes of at least 20 women'; 'no allegation so far that the student spread the deepfake images'; 'a friend discovered the images on the student's laptop'.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'Around 20 to 30 women... were affected'; 'in February, the student had admitted to using screenshots of the social media accounts... to generate pornographic images using free online artificial intelligence software'; 'there were 700 images involved - including deepfakes as well as unedited images'.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'The images were organized into folders named after the victims, totaling 700+ images'; 'discovered on his laptop reported to the university in February'; 'not known to have been widely distributed'.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"In February 2025 an HKU law student was found to have used free online AI software to make indecent/deepfake images of some 20 to 30 women (about 700 image files including deepfakes and unedited saved photos), taken from their social-media accounts; there was no allegation he distributed them.","causal_attribution":"The victims' Instagram account (carried by HKFP and NBC) and AFP reporting (CBS); the 700 figure is images, and outlets vary between 'at least 20' and '20 to 30' women."},{"id":"c2","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"'The University has already issued him a warning letter and demanded him a formal apology'; the 60-word apology letter; 'class adjustments'.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'HKU proposed a verbal reprimand and warning letter'; the ~60-word apology 'most victims found... insincere'.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'The university said it had issued a warning letter to the student and told him to apologise'; lawmakers/advocates' criticism.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"HKU initially issued a warning letter and demanded an apology (about 60 words, shown to victims in April 2025), and made class adjustments; the response drew wide criticism after victims went public on 12 July 2025.","causal_attribution":"HKU statements and the victims' account, carried by three outlets."},{"id":"c3","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"'Hong Kong's Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data said Tuesday... has begun a criminal investigation into the incident'.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'The probe, announced Tuesday by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data'.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Hong Kong's Privacy Commissioner opened a criminal investigation on 15 July 2025.","causal_attribution":"PCPD announcement, 15 July 2025."},{"id":"c4","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'私隱專員公署今日（17 日）宣布，因證據不足未能進一步跟進... 由於未有受害人願意提供進一步資料，目前未有足夠證據提出起訴'; 'AI 深度偽造技術（Deepfake）投訴... 5 宗'; new school/parent guidance.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s5"}],"assertion":"On 17 December 2025 the PCPD announced it was ending the investigation for insufficient evidence, as no victim was willing to provide further information, and released anti-deepfake guidance for schools and parents.","causal_attribution":"unwire.hk report of the PCPD press conference (Privacy Commissioner Ada Chung), 17 December 2025."},{"id":"c5","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"'under section 159AAE of the Crimes Ordinance, it is unlawful to disseminate deepfake intimate images... without their consent'; creation not covered.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'the city's regulations covered acts of voyeurism and the publication or distribution of images - rather than their creation'.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"},{"locator":"'Hong Kong law only criminalises the distribution of intimate images... but not the generation of them'.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Hong Kong law criminalises publication or distribution of non-consensual intimate images (including AI-generated ones) but not their mere creation, leaving victims without a clear route to prosecution.","causal_attribution":"Legal analysis carried by three outlets and the victims' statement."}],"effects":[{"label":"some 20 to 30 women had indecent and deepfake images generated from their social-media photos; distress, shared classes with the accused, and no redress after the probe closed","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ai-generated-porn-scandal-university-of-hong-kong/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-17 via the Internet Archive capture 20251105074941 (CBS live returns HTTP 406); datePublished 2025-07-15. CBS/AFP: at least 20 women, PCPD criminal probe, legal gap.","independence_group":"afp"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.nbcnews.com/world/asia/hong-kong-opens-criminal-probe-ai-generated-porn-scandal-citys-oldest-rcna219046","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-17 (live, datePublished 2025-07-17). NBC News: 700+ images in victim-named folders, warning letter and 60-word apology, class adjustments, John Lee comment.","independence_group":"nbc"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://hongkongfp.com/2025/07/14/hku-student-who-allegedly-made-700-ai-generated-indecent-images-inc-of-classmates-gets-warning-letter/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-17 (live, datePublished 2025-07-13, correction 2025-07-14). HKFP: 20-30 women, February discovery, 700 images (deepfakes plus unedited), March disciplinary request, ragging analysis.","independence_group":"hkfp"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3318047/hong-kong-should-ban-ai-generated-porn-protect-victims-ngo-and-lawmakers","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-17 (live, datePublished 2025-07-13). SCMP: advocates and lawmakers on the creation-vs-distribution legal gap; Education Bureau comment.","independence_group":"scmp"},{"id":"s5","url":"https://unwire.hk/2025/12/17/hku-ai-deepfake-case-privacy-investigation-insufficient-evidence/fun-tech/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"zh","translation_note":"Read in Chinese on 2026-09-17 (datePublished 2025-12-17). unwire.hk on the PCPD press conference: probe ended for insufficient evidence, no victim willing to provide further information, 20-30 victims, five deepfake complaints that year, new school/parent guidance. Model reading; no human bilingual review.","independence_group":"unwire"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["education","privacy","justice"],"unknowns":["The student is not identified beyond 'a male law student' and faced no prosecution; whether HKU took any further disciplinary action is not established.","The exact number of women is reported as 20 to 30 (NBC: 'more than a dozen'); the precise count is unresolved.","The creation start date is reported by The Standard as about May 2024 but is not firmly established in the sources read here.","Whether any victim later came forward with evidence after the December 2025 closure is not established."],"geography":{"basis":"Event: the University of Hong Kong; victims are HKU-connected women in Hong Kong (CBS, NBC, HKFP, SCMP). The PCPD is a regulator, not a court, and no prosecution followed, so court_countries is empty.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["HK"],"affected_person_countries":["HK"]},"publication":{"basis":"Restored from the deletion of historical artifact rows and converted to facts-v3 under the 2026-09-15 charter, which brings non-consensual AI imagery and harmful artifacts into scope. Some 20 to 30 women had indecent AI images generated from their photos; the harm and the closed investigation are documented across CBS/AFP, NBC, HKFP, SCMP and unwire.hk. First-publication timestamp preserved.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-17"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"Multiple outlets and the victims' own account report the student used free online AI software to generate indecent/deepfake images from the women's social-media photos; the student admitted using the software (per the victims' account carried by HKFP and NBC). The specific tools are not named.","status":"supported"},"person_relations":["depicted_or_impersonated"]},"name":"University of Hong Kong: a law student made about 700 indecent AI-generated images of some 20 to 30 classmates and teachers; the privacy watchdog opened then closed a criminal probe","summary":"In February 2025 a University of Hong Kong (HKU) law student was found, by friends who saw the files on his laptop, to have used free online AI software to make about 700 indecent and deepfake images of some 20 to 30 women, including university and former schoolmates and secondary-school teachers, using photos taken from their social media. Victims went public in July 2025, and HKU's initial response, a warning letter and a demand that he apologise, drew wide criticism. Hong Kong's Privacy Commissioner opened a criminal investigation on 15 July 2025 but announced on 17 December 2025 that it was ending the probe for insufficient evidence, as no victim was willing to provide further information. Hong Kong law criminalised distribution, not creation, of such images.","incidentDate":"2025-02-01","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2025-07-12","aiSystem":"AI deepfake / image-generation software (free online tools, not named)","aiProduct":"Unidentified image tool","severity":"high","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["psychological_distress","reputational_harm","exploitation_or_abuse"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"Some 20 to 30 women had indecent and deepfake images of themselves generated with AI from their social-media photos; victims reported distress and had to share classes with the accused, and the criminal investigation was closed for insufficient evidence, leaving them without redress.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":20,"affectedCountStatus":"documented_minimum","affectedCountEvidence":"CBS and Hong Kong Free Press report 20 to 30 women affected; NBC reports 'more than a dozen'; the PCPD (December 2025) referred to 20 to 30 victims. Documented minimum of 20; the ~700 figure counts images (deepfakes plus unedited saved photos), not people, and is not used as a person count.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"HK","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"investigation_opened","outcomeStatus":"resolved","primarySourceUrl":"https://hongkongfp.com/2025/07/14/hku-student-who-allegedly-made-700-ai-generated-indecent-images-inc-of-classmates-gets-warning-letter/","primarySourceLabel":"Hong Kong Free Press, 13-14 July 2025: HKU student who allegedly made 700 AI-generated indecent images, inc. of classmates, gets warning letter","firstPublishedAt":"2026-01-29T09:52:32.902523+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:17:04.827976+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["deepfakes","hong-kong","university","ncii","sexual-images","legal-gap","investigation","east-asia","depicted-or-impersonated"]},{"id":"2025-singapore-far-right-teen-ai-firearms","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'In February and March 2025, two self-radicalised Singaporean youths, aged 15 and 17, were issued with a Restriction Order and an Order of Detention under the Internal Security Act respectively'; '2 April 2025'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'were detained in December 2024 and March 2025, respectively'; 'FRE supporter detained in March 2025'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"In March 2025 a 17-year-old Singaporean was issued an Order of Detention under the Internal Security Act, which the ISD announced on 2 April 2025.","causal_attribution":"The ISD release is the official announcement of the order. The order was issued for his attack preparations; no source attributes the detention to his chatbot use."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'had been radicalised by violent far-right extremist and racist ideologies and had taken steps in preparation for attacks against Muslims at mosques in Singapore'; 'he made multiple unsuccessful attempts to procure a gun'; 'the youth shortlisted five mosques'; 'he had yet to execute his attacks only because he was unable to procure a gun'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'had made extensive preparations to conduct shootings against Muslims at five mosques in Singapore'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The ISD says the 17-year-old had been radicalised by far-right extremist and racist ideologies, shortlisted five mosques in Singapore as targets for shooting attacks on Muslims, made several unsuccessful attempts to procure a gun, and admitted at his arrest that he had not carried out the attacks only because he was unable to procure a gun.","causal_attribution":"The ISD's account of its investigation and of his statements. No court has tested it; the detention is an executive order."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'FRE supporter detained in March 2025, he had searched for instructions on an AI chatbot about producing ammunition, and considered 3D printing his own firearms for his local attack plans'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The ISD's 2025 threat assessment report says the 17-year-old had searched for instructions on an AI chatbot about producing ammunition and considered 3D printing his own firearms for his local attack plans.","causal_attribution":"The report states the search, not its result. It does not name the chatbot, date the search or say what the chatbot replied, so whether the chatbot supplied instructions is not established."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'he reached out to a US-based online contact who claimed to be a gun maker'; 'suggested 3D printing the gun parts and ammunition instead'; 'the youth did not follow through with the idea due to the cost and technical feasibility'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"The ISD press release says a US-based online contact who claimed to be a gun maker suggested 3D printing gun parts and ammunition, and that the youth did not follow through because of the cost and technical feasibility.","causal_attribution":"The ISD's account. This passage does not involve the AI chatbot."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Even though there is no indication that evolving technologies, such as AI and 3D printing, have been used in any terrorist attack plot in Singapore, we are seeing an emerging trend of evolving technologies featuring in local youth self-radicalisation cases'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'Artificial Intelligence (AI) is emerging as a terrorism enabler for'","relation":"context","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The ISD report cites the case as part of an emerging trend of evolving technologies in youth self-radicalisation cases, while stating that there is no indication that technologies such as AI and 3D printing have been used in any terrorist attack plot in Singapore.","causal_attribution":"The ISD's assessment of a trend; it does not attribute the attack plan to the chatbot."},{"id":"c6","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'was identified during ISD’s investigations of'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'who was detained under the ISA in December 2024'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'The 17-year-old male was an online contact of 18-year-old Singaporean'; 'then a student, was radicalised by violent far-right extremist ideologies'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"The ISD says it identified the 17-year-old during its investigation of an 18-year-old far-right extremist detained in December 2024, of whom he was an online contact.","causal_attribution":"The ISD's account of how he came to its attention; the chatbot use played no reported part."}],"effects":[{"label":"a 17-year-old was detained under the Internal Security Act","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.isd.gov.sg/news-and-resources/singapore-terrorism-threat-assessment-report-2025/","kind":"official_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"ISD landing page for the Singapore Terrorism Threat Assessment Report 2025, dated 29 July 2025, read live in English on 2026-10-03 and 2026-10-04 (HTTP 200). It summarises the report and links the PDF; it does not describe this case.","independence_group":"isd-singapore"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://isomer-user-content.by.gov.sg/155/3c41ba65-fa24-4ef1-9bf9-0b79d892a742/sttar-2025-(final).pdf","kind":"official_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Report PDF (14.9 MB) read on 2026-10-03 through pdftotext; HTTP 200 and the same size re-checked on 2026-10-04. The text is English although the PDF language tag says ar-SA. Line wrapping in the extracted text joins '17-year-old' as '17-yearold' in one passage.","independence_group":"isd-singapore"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.isd.gov.sg/news-and-resources/issuance-of-orders-under-internal-security-act--isa--against-two-self-radicalised-singaporean-youths--and-updates-on-isa-orders/","kind":"official_statement","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"ISD press release of 2 April 2025, read live in English on 2026-10-03 and 2026-10-04 (HTTP 200). It announced the Order of Detention. It does not mention the AI chatbot in this youth's case; the chatbot it mentions concerns a 15-year-old in the same release.","independence_group":"isd-singapore"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["justice"],"unknowns":["Which AI chatbot the teenager used, when he searched it, and what it replied, including whether it supplied usable ammunition instructions or refused.","Whether the detention order remains in force; no later ISD update on this youth was inspected.","No inspected source states where the teenager used the AI chatbot; event_countries rests on the location of the planned attacks."],"geography":{"basis":"Carried forward from the metadata review of 2026-10-03 and re-checked on 2026-10-04. The ISD press release says he had taken steps in preparation for attacks against Muslims at mosques in Singapore and frequented the Jurong West area, and the report describes preparations for shootings at five mosques in Singapore. event_countries describes the attack preparations; no source says where he used the chatbot. The Order of Detention under the Internal Security Act is an executive order and no court proceeding is reported, so court_countries is empty. Countries of his online contacts and of places he considered buying guns are not event locations.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["SG"],"affected_person_countries":["SG"]},"publication":{"basis":"Full review on 2026-10-04 of a legacy row against the ISD's Singapore Terrorism Threat Assessment Report 2025 (landing page and PDF) and its press release of 2 April 2025, all official records read in English. The chatbot detail rests on the July 2025 report alone. A previously cited The Print item could not be read and was removed. Prose stating that the chatbot provided instructions was corrected because no inspected source says what the chatbot replied.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-04"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The ISD's Singapore Terrorism Threat Assessment Report 2025 states that the 17-year-old far-right extremist supporter detained in March 2025 had searched for instructions on an AI chatbot about producing ammunition. The ISD press release of 2 April 2025 that announced his detention does not mention the chatbot. No inspected source names the chatbot or says what it replied, and the report also says there is no indication that AI has been used in any terrorist attack plot in Singapore.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"metadataReview":{"version":1,"geography":{"basis":"Re-checked on 2026-10-03 against the Internal Security Department (ISD) page for the Singapore Terrorism Threat Assessment Report 2025, the report PDF it links, and the ISD press release of 2 April 2025 that announced the detention, all read in English; The Print item could not be read. The press release states that the 17-year-old had taken steps in preparation for attacks against Muslims at mosques in Singapore and shortlisted five mosques there, and the report describes preparations to conduct shootings at five mosques in Singapore, which supports event_countries=SG. The press release says he frequented the Jurong West area of Singapore, which supports affected_person_countries=SG for the teenager who used the AI chatbot (location, not nationality; no inspected source names any harmed third party). He was issued an Order of Detention under the Internal Security Act, an executive order; no inspected source reports a court proceeding, so court_countries stays empty. No inspected source states where he used the AI chatbot, so event_countries describes the attack preparations, not the chatbot use. Countries named outside Singapore (a US-based online contact, and Malaysia or Thailand as places he considered buying guns) are contacts or options he considered, not event locations.","evidence":[{"kind":"existing_record","locator":"after preparing shooting attacks on Muslims at mosques in Singapore","location":"summary","supports":["event_countries"],"countries":["SG"]},{"kind":"source_body","locator":"had taken steps in preparation for attacks against Muslims at mosques in Singapore","location":"https://www.isd.gov.sg/news-and-resources/issuance-of-orders-under-internal-security-act--isa--against-two-self-radicalised-singaporean-youths--and-updates-on-isa-orders/","supports":["event_countries"],"countries":["SG"]},{"kind":"source_body","locator":"he had given greater thought to attacking Masjid Maarof, as he frequented the Jurong West area","location":"https://www.isd.gov.sg/news-and-resources/issuance-of-orders-under-internal-security-act--isa--against-two-self-radicalised-singaporean-youths--and-updates-on-isa-orders/","supports":["event_countries","affected_person_countries"],"countries":["SG"]},{"kind":"source_body","locator":"had made extensive preparations to conduct shootings against Muslims at five mosques in Singapore","location":"https://isomer-user-content.by.gov.sg/155/3c41ba65-fa24-4ef1-9bf9-0b79d892a742/sttar-2025-(final).pdf","supports":["event_countries"],"countries":["SG"]}],"court_countries":[],"event_countries":["SG"],"affected_person_countries":["SG"]},"unresolved":["No court country: the Order of Detention under the Internal Security Act is an executive order, and no inspected source reports a court proceeding.","No inspected source states where the teenager used the AI chatbot; event_countries=SG rests on the location of the planned attacks.","The Print item could not be read (Cloudflare challenge live and in both Internet Archive captures, 16 Aug 2026 and 25 Sep 2026); the row dates it 17 Jan 2025, which would precede the March 2025 detention, but the date was not checked against the item.","Row-correction lead outside this metadata pass: the ISD press release of 2 April 2025 does not mention the AI chatbot in this case; among inspected sources the chatbot detail rests on the ISD Terrorism Threat Assessment Report 2025."],"reviewed_on":"2026-10-03","source_reviews":[{"url":"https://www.isd.gov.sg/news-and-resources/singapore-terrorism-threat-assessment-report-2025/","notes":"Read live on 2026-10-03 (HTTP 200; html lang=en). English. ISD landing page for the Singapore Terrorism Threat Assessment Report 2025; it summarises the report and links the report PDF. The page itself does not describe the 17-year-old's case.","access":"read","language":"en"},{"url":"https://isomer-user-content.by.gov.sg/155/3c41ba65-fa24-4ef1-9bf9-0b79d892a742/sttar-2025-(final).pdf","notes":"Read on 2026-10-03 (HTTP 200, application/pdf, 14.9 MB; text extracted with pdftotext). The text is English; the PDF's /Lang tag says ar-SA, which does not match its content. The report states that the 17-year-old far-right extremist supporter detained in March 2025 searched for instructions on an AI chatbot about producing ammunition and considered 3D printing firearms, and that he prepared shootings at five mosques in Singapore.","access":"read","language":"en"},{"url":"https://www.isd.gov.sg/news-and-resources/issuance-of-orders-under-internal-security-act--isa--against-two-self-radicalised-singaporean-youths--and-updates-on-isa-orders/","notes":"Read live on 2026-10-03 (HTTP 200; html lang=en). English. ISD press release of 2 April 2025, not cited on the row, which announced the Order of Detention issued in March 2025. It locates the planned attacks at mosques in Singapore and gives the Jurong West area. It does not mention an AI chatbot in the 17-year-old's case (the chatbot it mentions concerns the 15-year-old in the same release).","access":"read","language":"en"},{"url":"https://theprint.in/world/singapore-warns-of-elevated-terror-threat-amid-rising-extremist-ideologies/2705989/","notes":"Live fetches on 2026-10-03 returned HTTP 403 with a browser user agent and a Cloudflare 'Just a moment' challenge page with a plain request; both Internet Archive captures (16 Aug 2026 and 25 Sep 2026) are the same challenge page. Not read, so its language is not recorded here. The row dates this item 17 Jan 2025; that date was not checked against the item, so whether it reports this case is not established.","access":"unavailable","language":null}]},"name":"Singapore Far-Right Teen Plot (AI Chatbot Ammunition Search)","summary":"Singapore's Internal Security Department (ISD) says a 17-year-old far-right extremist supporter, detained under the Internal Security Act in March 2025 after preparing shooting attacks on Muslims at mosques in Singapore, had searched for instructions on an AI chatbot about producing ammunition and considered 3D printing his own firearms. The chatbot is not named, and what it replied is not reported.","incidentDate":"2025-03-15","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2025-04-02","aiSystem":"AI chatbot (unspecified)","aiProduct":"Unidentified chatbot","aiCompany":"Unknown","severity":"high","verificationStatus":"verified","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["legal_harm","loss_of_liberty"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"The ISD says a 17-year-old who had prepared shooting attacks on mosques and had searched an AI chatbot for instructions on producing ammunition was detained under Singapore's Internal Security Act in March 2025.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"unclear","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"The ISD records one detained 17-year-old who used an AI chatbot. The planned attacks were not carried out, so the people at the mosques are intended targets and are not counted.","victimAgeRange":"minor","jurisdiction":"SG","platformType":"chatbot","outcomeType":"regulatory_action","outcomeStatus":"unknown","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.isd.gov.sg/news-and-resources/singapore-terrorism-threat-assessment-report-2025/","primarySourceLabel":"Internal Security Department, Singapore Terrorism Threat Assessment Report 2025, 29 July 2025","firstPublishedAt":"2026-01-22T07:15:38.750068+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-04T03:21:51.543496+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["terrorism","far-right","radicalization","minor","singapore","firearms","ammunition","3d-printing","foiled-plot","ai-chatbot"]},{"id":"2025-holmen-norway-gdpr","metadataReview":{"version":1,"geography":{"basis":"Carried forward from the 2026-09-15 metadata review and now checked against the inspected noyb press page. noyb describes him as the Norwegian user and refers to his home town without naming it; residence in Trondheim rests on the retained row, so affected-person country is NO by reported residence. The noyb page does not state where he queried ChatGPT or where the output was viewed, so the event location remains unknown after review. The complaint was filed with the Norwegian data protection authority (Datatilsynet), a regulator rather than a court, so court_countries is empty as a reviewed result. This is a metadata review and does not verify the underlying account.","evidence":[{"kind":"existing_record","locator":"Trondheim, Norway","location":"victim_description","supports":["affected_person_countries"],"countries":["NO"]},{"kind":"source_body","locator":"'When the Norwegian user Arve Hjalmar Holmen wanted to find out if ChatGPT had any information about him, he was confronted with a made up horror story'","location":"https://noyb.eu/en/ai-hallucinations-chatgpt-created-fake-child-murderer","supports":["affected_person_countries"],"countries":["NO"]}],"court_countries":[],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":["NO"]},"unresolved":["The location where the ChatGPT output was generated or viewed is not stated in the inspected noyb page or the retained row; event_countries remains empty as a reviewed unknown.","No court proceeding: the Datatilsynet complaint is a regulatory complaint, so court_countries is empty as a reviewed result.","The complaint PDF linked from the noyb page and any Norwegian-language coverage were not inspected; only the English press page was reviewed."],"reviewed_on":"2026-09-23","source_reviews":[{"url":"https://noyb.eu/en/ai-hallucinations-chatgpt-created-fake-child-murderer","notes":"Read live on 2026-09-23 (noyb, 20 March 2025; html lang=en; the page offers translations in other languages). Describes the complainant as a Norwegian user, the fabricated output (murder of two of his children, attempted murder of his third son, 21-year sentence), the mix of real details including his home town, and the complaint filed with the Norwegian Datatilsynet. Does not locate the query or the viewing of the output.","access":"read","language":"en"}]},"name":"Holmen v. OpenAI - Norway GDPR Complaint","summary":"ChatGPT falsely accused Norwegian citizen Arve Hjalmar Holmen of murdering two of his sons, attempting to murder his third son, and being sentenced to 21 years prison. Mixed real personal details with horrific fabrications. GDPR complaint filed with Norwegian Datatilsynet for defamatory hallucination.","incidentDate":"2025-03-01","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"single_interaction","reportedDate":"2025-03-15","aiSystem":"ChatGPT","aiProduct":"ChatGPT","aiCompany":"OpenAI","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"verified","harmCategories":["psychological_manipulation","identity_destabilization","third_party_harm_facilitation"],"harmOutcomes":["psychological_distress","reputational_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"Arve Hjalmar Holmen discovered ChatGPT combining real personal details with false claims that he murdered two sons and attempted to murder a third. He filed a GDPR complaint over the defamatory output.","frameworkFacets":["P3a","P5b","P5c"],"pathwayDirection":"inward","causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"The regulator complaint documents one named participant's distress and reputational harm.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"NO","platformType":"assistant","outcomeType":"regulatory_action","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://noyb.eu/en/ai-hallucinations-chatgpt-created-fake-child-murderer","primarySourceLabel":"noyb — 'AI hallucinations: ChatGPT created a fake child murderer', the complaint filed with Datatilsynet","firstPublishedAt":"2026-01-13T10:13:04.624733+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:17:05.427919+00:00","scopeVersion":"participant-v2","tags":["norway","gdpr","chatgpt","defamation","hallucination","noyb","false_accusations"]},{"id":"2025-grok-non-consensual-image-generation","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"'image generation and editing are currently limited to paying subscribers'; the standalone app/X tab complied with undress requests including NBC's consenting test subject.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"AP: Grok let users 'undress people, putting females in transparent bikinis or revealing clothing'; some images appeared to include children.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s7"},{"locator":"'Over the past several weeks, Grok allowed users to create and publicly post sexually altered images of real people at the click of a button.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s8"}],"assertion":"From late December 2025, Grok's image generation and editing on X and the standalone app let users generate sexualized images of real people at scale; xAI limited generation to paying subscribers on 9 January 2026, but NBC's own consenting test found the standalone app and X tab still complied with 'undress' requests.","causal_attribution":"The conduct is established by NBC's direct test plus official accounts; the paywall change's limited effect is NBC's finding."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Genevieve Oh's analysis: 7,751 sexualized images in one hour Wednesday, up 16.4% from 6,659/hr Monday.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"NYT via NC DOJ: 'generated and posted 4.4 million images, of which at least 41 percent were sexualized images of women' over nine days.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s8"},{"locator":"CCDH via Engadget: 'an estimated 3 million sexualized images over 11 days, including 23,000 of minors'.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s9"}],"assertion":"Scale analyses: Genevieve Oh's analysis found 7,751 sexualized images generated in one hour on a Wednesday (up 16.4% from 6,659/hour on Monday); the New York Times reported 4.4 million images over nine days, at least 41% sexualized images of women; an AP analysis of 20,000 images from 25 December-1 January found 2% appeared to be 18 or younger; CCDH estimated about 3 million sexualized images over 11 days including roughly 23,000 of minors.","causal_attribution":"Each figure belongs to its own analysis (Oh; NYT; AP via Fortune; CCDH); none is platform-confirmed and they are not merged. The AP 20,000-image analysis is carried via Fortune. The Bloomberg ~6,700/hour, 84-85x figure is recorded as unavailable."},{"id":"c3a","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'I felt horrified, I felt violated, especially seeing my toddler's backpack in the back of it'; image of her at 14 undressed, up ~12 hrs, removed after the Guardian sought comment.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"Ashley St. Clair said users sexualized images of her, including one of her at 14 that stayed up about 12 hours and was removed after the Guardian sought comment: 'I felt horrified, I felt violated.'","causal_attribution":"Her account to the Guardian; her own lawsuit is a separate held row and is not merged here."},{"id":"c3b","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'dehumanised and reduced into a sexual stereotype'; 'others asked Grok to generate more of her'; 'While it wasn't me that was in states of undress, it looked like me and it felt like me and it felt as violating.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Samantha Smith told the BBC she felt 'dehumanised and reduced into a sexual stereotype', and after she posted about it, others asked Grok to generate more of her.","causal_attribution":"Her account to the BBC."},{"id":"c3c","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'had seen an increase in people using Grok to undress her'; the 'sticking plaster' quote.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"Dr Daisy Dixon, a Cardiff University lecturer, told the BBC she had seen an increase in people using Grok to undress her and called the paywall change 'a sticking plaster'.","causal_attribution":"Her account to the BBC."},{"id":"c4","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"IWF analysts found 'criminal imagery' of girls aged 11-13 apparently made with Grok.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"},{"locator":"AI Forensics' review: ~800 archived URLs, <10% apparent CSAM ('photorealistic people, very young'), ~70 URLs reported to EU regulators.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s5"}],"assertion":"The Internet Watch Foundation told the BBC its analysts found 'criminal imagery' of girls aged 11-13 apparently made with Grok; Wired and AI Forensics reviewed about 800 archived Grok Imagine URLs with under 10% apparent CSAM and reported about 70 URLs to EU regulators.","causal_attribution":"Two independent expert bodies' findings (IWF; AI Forensics); the minors are unnamed and uncounted per the counting rules."},{"id":"c5","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"NBC: Ofcom 'urgent contact'; Starmer 'disgraceful... X has got to get a grip'.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"ICO announcement: formal investigations into XIUC and X.AI; follows the 7 January contact.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s6"},{"locator":"AP via PBS: the EU's formal DSA investigation; 'materialized' risks; 'serious harm'.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s7"},{"locator":"NC DOJ release: the 35-AG letter and its demands.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s8"},{"locator":"Engadget: the Baltimore suit; City Solicitor Thompson's statement.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s9"},{"locator":"TechPolicy.Press: the Amsterdam order of 26 March.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s13"},{"locator":"Reuters headline (body unavailable): Ireland DPC inquiry of 17 February.","relation":"context","source_id":"s11"}],"assertion":"Formal regulatory and legal actions followed: Ofcom's urgent contact (5 Jan; response by 9 Jan; investigation announced 12 Jan); the UK ICO's formal investigations into XIUC and X.AI LLC (3 Feb); the European Commission's formal DSA investigation (26 Jan, risks 'materialized' into 'serious harm'); Ireland's DPC GDPR inquiry (17 Feb); 35 US state attorneys general's demand letter (23 Jan); Baltimore's consumer-protection suit (24 Mar; D. Md. 1:26-cv-02103); and an Amsterdam court order to stop generating or distributing non-consensual sexualized images in the Netherlands (26 Mar, Offlimits suit, penalty up to €10 million).","causal_attribution":"Each action is carried by an inspected official or news source; the California AG probe (NBC) and the Indonesia/Malaysia/Philippines blocks (Reuters bodies unavailable) are recorded in the outcome and reported in the narrative."},{"id":"c6","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"AP: the X statement of 14 January ('bikinis, underwear or other revealing attire', where illegal).","relation":"supports","source_id":"s7"},{"locator":"BBC (16 Mar): Musk's 'Literally zero' post of 14 January.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s10"}],"assertion":"xAI's 14 January statement said it would stop allowing users to depict people in 'bikinis, underwear or other revealing attire' where illegal; Musk posted on 14 January that he was 'not aware of any naked underage images... Literally zero'.","causal_attribution":"The company's and Musk's statements are recorded as their positions; the IWF and AI Forensics findings stand in tension with 'Literally zero' and are preserved as contrary evidence."},{"id":"c7","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"BBC (20 Apr 2026): the 3 Feb raid, the summons, Musk's non-appearance, the DOJ refusal, and the probe's scope.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s10"}],"assertion":"Paris police raided X's offices on 3 February and summoned Musk and Yaccarino for 20 April; Musk did not appear, and the US DOJ declined to assist France; the French probe includes complicity in possession or organised distribution of child sexual abuse material.","causal_attribution":"Single inspected chain (BBC); attributed accordingly."}],"effects":[{"label":"industrial-scale non-consensual sexualized imagery of real people, including apparent minors, generated by Grok","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c98p1r4e6m8o","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-15 (2 Jan 2026). Samantha Smith's account.","independence_group":"bbc"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/x-paywall-ai-image-grok-app-bikini-allows-sexual-deepfakes-rcna252647","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-15 (8 Jan 2026). Paywall change; NBC's own consenting test; Genevieve Oh's analysis; Starmer and Ofcom accounts.","independence_group":"nbc"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jan/05/elon-musk-ashley-st-clair-grok-fake-sexualised-images","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-15 (5 Jan 2026). Ashley St. Clair's account.","independence_group":"guardian"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c99kn52nx9do","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-15 (9 Jan 2026, McMahon/Cress). Dr Daisy Dixon; the IWF finding.","independence_group":"bbc"},{"id":"s5","url":"https://www.wired.com/story/grok-is-generating-sexual-content-far-more-graphic-than-whats-on-x/","kind":"news_investigation","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-15 (7 Jan 2026, Burgess/Varner). AI Forensics' review of ~800 archived Grok Imagine URLs.","independence_group":"wired"},{"id":"s6","url":"https://ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/media-centre/news-and-blogs/2026/02/ico-announces-investigation-into-grok/","kind":"regulator_announcement","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-15 (formal investigations into XIUC and X.AI LLC; follows the 7 January urgent-information contact).","independence_group":"ico"},{"id":"s7","url":"https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/eu-investigates-musks-ai-chatbot-grok-over-sexual-deepfakes","kind":"wire_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-15 (AP, Kelvin Chan; 26 Jan 2026). EU DSA investigation; X's 14 January statement.","independence_group":"ap"},{"id":"s8","url":"https://ncdoj.gov/attorney-general-jeff-jackson-leads-bipartisan-coalition-demanding-xai-stop-creating-and-remove-groks-nonconsensual-sexual-images/","kind":"regulator_press_release","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-15 (23 Jan 2026). The 35-AG letter; quotes the New York Times' 4.4M/41% figure.","independence_group":"nc-doj"},{"id":"s9","url":"https://www.engadget.com/ai/baltimore-sues-xai-over-grok-deepfakes-214135922.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-15 (24 Mar 2026). Baltimore suit; the CCDH estimate.","independence_group":"engadget"},{"id":"s10","url":"https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crk151nn7j3o","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-15 (20 Apr 2026). Paris raid; Musk's non-appearance; DOJ refusal to assist France.","independence_group":"bbc"},{"id":"s11","url":"https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/ireland-opens-probe-into-musks-grok-ai-over-sexualised-images-2026-02-17/","kind":"wire_report","access":"unavailable","language":null,"translation_note":"HTTP 401 on 2026-09-15; headline and date verified from the URL and snapshot; body not read.","independence_group":"reuters"},{"id":"s12","url":"https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-07/","kind":"news_report","access":"unavailable","language":null,"translation_note":"HTTP 403 on 2026-09-15; the ~6,700/hour, 84-85x analysis is attributed from the historical record and secondary references; body not read.","independence_group":"bloomberg"},{"id":"s13","url":"https://www.techpolicy.press/dutch-court-orders-x-grok-to-stop-aigenerated-sexual-abuse-content/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-15 (27 Mar 2026). Amsterdam court order in the Offlimits case.","independence_group":"techpolicy-press"},{"id":"s14","url":"https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/ashley-st-clair-sues-xai-grok-sexual-images-rcna254302","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read on 2026-09-15 (15 Jan 2026). St. Clair's suit; cross-reference to the related held row.","independence_group":"nbc"},{"id":"s15","url":"https://www.pacermonitor.com/public/case/64870891/MAYOR_AND_CITY_COUNCIL_OF_BALTIMORE_v_X_Corp_et_al","kind":"court_docket","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Docket page read on 2026-09-15 (D. Md. 1:26-cv-02103; SpaceX dismissed without prejudice 17 Jul; MTD briefing under way as of 29 Jul).","independence_group":"court-record"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["everyday_life","justice"],"unknowns":["The Bloomberg analysis (~6,700 images/hour, 84-85x leading deepfake sites) could not be read (403) and is recorded without its body.","Whether the images remain hosted and downloadable (Wired's June 2026 follow-up, cited but not read) is unverified.","The N.D. Cal. class action's pseudonymity ruling of 30 July is known only through a blocked summary (internetcases 403).","The outcome of the Amsterdam order's penalty mechanism and xAI's compliance are not reported in the inspected sources.","The Indonesia/Malaysia/Philippines blocks and lifts are recorded from the historical record and headlines (Reuters/CNN bodies unavailable); dates may shift one day across carriers.","The historical claim of 'five countries acting within two weeks' is not precisely verified and is not claimed."],"geography":{"basis":"The generation and consumption were global and not tied to an inspected event location, so event and affected-person countries remain unknown rather than inferred from regulators or the company's seats. Court countries are limited to the documented proceedings: the US (Baltimore D. Md. suit; the related US suits) and the NL (Amsterdam court order). Regulatory actions by Ofcom, the ICO, the EU, the DPC, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines are not courts.","court_countries":["US","NL"],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Restored under the 2026-09-15 charter as a harmful-artifact crisis (depicted_or_impersonated). Named victims are adults who spoke publicly; minors are never named and never counted from image statistics. Each scale figure is attributed to its own analysis; the victims' accounts are single-chain and recorded as reported. Related xAI suits (St. Clair, Tennessee minors, others) are separate held rows and are not merged.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-15"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"NBC's own consenting test confirmed the standalone Grok app and X tab complied with 'undress' requests after the 9 January paywall change; the victims' accounts, the IWF and AI Forensics reviews, and xAI's own 14 January restriction all establish the AI generation. The scale figures are attributed analyses, not platform-confirmed numbers.","status":"supported"},"person_relations":["depicted_or_impersonated"]},"name":"Grok non-consensual sexual image generation wave (December 2025 - January 2026)","summary":"From late December 2025, xAI's Grok image editing on X let users generate sexualized images of real people at industrial scale, including images of named women and apparent minors. Analyses attributed to Genevieve Oh (7,751 sexualized images in one hour, via NBC), the New York Times (4.4 million images in nine days, at least 41% sexualized images of women, via the NC AG), the AP (2% of a 20,000-image sample appearing to be minors, via Fortune) and CCDH (about 3 million sexualized images over 11 days including roughly 23,000 of minors, via Engadget) documented the scale. Named women — Ashley St. Clair, Samantha Smith and Dr Daisy Dixon — described being undressed by Grok and revictimized when they objected. The wave triggered formal actions by Ofcom, the UK ICO, the EU (DSA), Ireland's DPC, 35 US state attorneys general, the California AG, Baltimore (consumer-protection suit), an Amsterdam court order, country blocks in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, and a Paris police raid; xAI restricted generation to paying subscribers on 9 January and narrowed the feature on 14 January 2026.","incidentDate":"2025-12-25","incidentEndDate":"2026-01-14","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"range","exposurePattern":"repeated_interactions","reportedDate":"2026-01-02","aiSystem":"Grok (image generation and editing on X and the standalone app)","aiProduct":"Grok","aiCompany":"SpaceXAI (formerly xAI)","severity":"critical","verificationStatus":"verified","harmCategories":["minor_exploitation","third_party_harm_facilitation","barrier_erosion"],"harmOutcomes":["psychological_distress","reputational_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"Mass non-consensual sexualized imagery of real people — including apparent minors — generated at industrial scale and amplified when victims objected, with named women describing violation and dehumanization and regulators on three continents opening formal actions.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"established","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":3,"affectedCountStatus":"partial","affectedCountEvidence":"Three counted depicted persons: Ashley St. Clair (Guardian), Samantha Smith (BBC) and Dr Daisy Dixon (BBC), each named and speaking publicly. Further victims — including the minors in the IWF's apparent criminal imagery (girls 11-13) and the people in the analysis samples — are unquantified: hourly image rates, the 20,000-image sample and the CCDH estimate count images, not people, and are never converted.","victimAgeRange":"minor","jurisdiction":"XX","platformType":"assistant","outcomeType":"regulatory_action","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c98p1r4e6m8o","primarySourceLabel":"BBC (2 Jan 2026) — Samantha Smith's account of being undressed by Grok and revictimized when she objected","firstPublishedAt":"2026-01-11T12:19:47.670189+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:17:03.797947+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["grok","xai","csam","deepfakes","minor","sexual-images","industrial-scale","multi-country","eu-dsa","class-action","35-state-ag","depicted-or-impersonated"]}]}