9 Oct 2026CanadaUnidentified image tool (suspected)
A woman in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, told Global News that a duct-cleaning crew she booked through a Facebook Marketplace advert came to her home on 9 October 2026, showed her a phone photo of a dirty furnace motor, raised the price to $300 and then showed her a photo of a motor that looked almost new as proof the job was done. When she checked after the crew left, she says, the motor was still dirty. An AI researcher at the University at Buffalo and two students, examining the photos for Global News, found a Google SynthID watermark on the clean-motor photo; the researcher said the AI detector Sightengine gave it a 99 per cent AI score and called the result their strongest evidence that the image may come from AI. She says the company denied wrongdoing and refunded her only after repeated complaints; Halifax police told her it was a civil matter.
Core concern Low reported severity Media Coverage
AI involvement suspected · Causal attribution alleged · 1 source · Added 24/10/2026
Event date unknownUnited StatesUnidentified image and video tool
The Monitor (MyRGV) reports, citing a probable cause affidavit, that a Texas Department of Public Safety staff sergeant was arrested on 3 March 2025 on a charge of possession or promotion of child pornography after his wife handed investigators a hard drive she had found. According to the affidavit, the drive held images of girls under 18 with their genitals exposed that "had been deepfake", and a Texas Rangers investigator said it also held sexually explicit videos and pictures of current female DPS employees' faces modified using an artificial intelligence application. DPS suspended him with pay and opened an administrative investigation; he was released on a $300,000 bond. He is presumed innocent, and no later outcome was found.
Core concern High reported severity Involving minors Criminal Charges
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 2 sources · Added 24/10/2026
4 Sept 2026 to 13 Oct 2026RomaniaUnidentified image and document tool
Police in Alba county, Romania, said on 22 October 2026 that an older woman had been persuaded, under the pretext of earning money from stock-market investments, to hand over about 253,600 lei between 4 September and 13 October 2026. According to the police, their investigation found that she had allegedly been misled and her trust won by being shown documents and photographs created with artificial intelligence. A man suspected of collecting the money and feeding it into a cryptocurrency ATM, for a commission of 3,000 lei per operation, was caught in the act on 21 October while coming to collect more and was detained for 24 hours on suspicion of complicity in fraud. The people behind the scheme are unidentified and the investigation continues under the local prosecutor's office. The police do not say what the documents and photographs showed or how they established that AI made them.
Core concern Medium reported severity Criminal Charges
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 2 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 23/10/2026
26 Jun 2025 to 27 Jun 2025VietnamStudyX and Gemini
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.
Core concern Medium reported severity Investigation Opened
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution supported · 2 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 23/10/2026
26 Jun 2025VietnamChatGPT
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.
Core concern Medium reported severity Involving minors Investigation Opened
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution supported · 3 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 23/10/2026
20 Apr 2023ChinaUnidentified video tool
Police in Baotou, Inner Mongolia, said in a statement published in May 2023 that on 20 April 2023 the legal representative of a technology company in Fuzhou, Fujian, received a WeChat video call from someone who appeared to be a friend and asked to route a 4.3 million yuan tender deposit through the company's account; trusting the video call, he transferred 4.3 million yuan in two payments. The police said the fraudster had used AI face-swapping to pose as the friend. At Fuzhou police's request, Baotou police and a local bank stopped 3.3684 million yuan within about ten minutes; 931,600 yuan had been moved on and was being pursued.
Core concern High reported severity Investigation Opened
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution supported · 2 sources · Added 22/10/2026
27 Apr 2023ChinaUnidentified video tool
In April 2023 a man in the Anqing economic development zone, Anhui, received a brief WeChat video call from someone who appeared to be an acquaintance, followed by a QQ message asking him to advance money for a tender; trusting the video call, he had family members transfer 2.45 million yuan. The local police anti-fraud centre found that the fraudsters had used a nine-second AI face-swap video to pose as the acquaintance, Dawan News reported. Police arrested three suspects on 28 April, froze or recovered more than one million yuan, and on 22 May returned 1.32 million yuan to the victim.
Core concern High reported severity Criminal Charges
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution supported · 2 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 22/10/2026
Nov 2025South KoreaUnidentified image tool
The Seoul Southern District Court on 11 September 2026 fined a male official in his fifties at a Seoul district office a total of 6 million won for making and posting false images and for defamation, according to Korean reports of the ruling. Under the charges, in November 2025 he took a photo of a female colleague in his department from the office's organisation chart, used generative AI to composite it into pictures that made them look like a couple, and posted them four times on his social media profile. The judge cited the colleague's statement that she felt shame, insult and disgust, and that rumours had spread at work. Police had initially found no offence before the case was sent back to prosecutors. Both he and the prosecution appealed, and the Seoul city personnel committee voted to dismiss him.
Core concern Medium reported severity Criminal Charges
AI involvement supported · Causal attribution established · 3 sources, 2 underlying accounts · Added 22/10/2026
9 Jul 2023IndiaUnidentified video tool
A retired Union (central) government employee in Kozhikode, Kerala, sent Rs 40,000 on 9 July 2023 after a WhatsApp video call and voice call from someone who looked like a former senior colleague and asked for money for a relative's surgery, the New Indian Express reported; Kerala cyber police traced the money and blocked the recipient account. In June 2024 Kozhikode police said the perpetrator had used AI-powered face-swapping technology to impersonate the former colleague on the video call, and that they had arrested five suspects from several states, according to Mathrubhumi.
Core concern Low reported severity Criminal Charges
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution supported · 2 sources · Added 22/10/2026
Event date unknownIsraelUnidentified image tool
Israel Police said in February 2025 that three boys aged 13 to 15 from Jerusalem were suspected of taking photos of girls from social media, editing them with artificial intelligence software into nude images and distributing them without consent. According to Ynet, at least 30 girls were harmed; police said investigators identified dozens of victims and that a search of the suspects' homes found edited nude images of several girls. The head of the Jerusalem district youth investigations unit described dozens of cases of girls' privacy being violated through nude images edited with AI technology. The three were questioned over publishing a sexual image without consent, and the case was passed to prosecutors to decide on charges.
Core concern High reported severity Involving minors Investigation Opened
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 2 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 22/10/2026
Oct 2024Event location unknownUnidentified video tool
South Korea's National Police Agency disclosed on 7 November 2024 that around October 2024 a foreign national received on a smartphone a video showing a daughter, who was travelling in Korea, locked in a room, crying and asking to be saved. The sender said the daughter had been kidnapped and demanded a settlement payment to keep her alive. The parents told their consulate, and Korean police who responded confirmed that the daughter was safe; according to the police, the crying daughter was a fake video made with deepfake technology. Police used the case to warn that similar scams could occur in Korea. Police said the parents lived abroad and that, fortunately, the case caused no damage.
Core concern Low reported severity Media Coverage
AI involvement supported · Causal attribution supported · 2 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 22/10/2026
Event date unknownMexicoUnidentified image tool
In October 2023 female students at the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN) business school in Mexico City complained that a fellow student had taken their photos from social media and edited them with artificial intelligence to make them look naked; he was also accused of selling them, which the 2025 conviction did not establish. The IPN expelled him on 16 October and the Mexico City prosecutor's office (FGJCDMX) opened an investigation; on 26 October 2023 it announced his arrest, describing him as accused of manipulating intimate photographs altered with artificial intelligence. Students said eight victims had filed complaints. Police found more than 166,000 images and 20,000 videos, edited and original, on his devices. In December 2024 a judge acquitted him in two cases of violation of privacy; in May 2025 he was sentenced to five years in prison for child sexual abuse material, a conviction based on storage of the material. Other cases remained open.
Core concern High reported severity Criminal Charges
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 4 sources · Added 22/10/2026
27 Oct 2023BrazilUnidentified image tool
In late October 2023, fake nude images of girls at a private school in Rio de Janeiro circulated in messaging groups and on social media. Families said pupils in years 7 to 9 had used an artificial intelligence tool to put the faces of pupils aged 14 to 16 onto photos of naked bodies. The school sent parents a notice about pupils using AI to make intimate photo montages and said disciplinary measures would follow. The Rio de Janeiro Civil Police child-protection unit (DPCA) opened an inquiry; its head said the pupils were suspected of making fake nudes with AI and that more than 20 victims had been identified, including girls from other schools. A mother said the girls were having anxiety attacks and crying. The inquiry was placed under seal because minors were involved; its outcome is not known.
Core concern High reported severity Involving minors Investigation Opened
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 4 sources · Added 22/10/2026
Event date unknownUnited StatesUnidentified image tool
In February 2024 the Beverly Hills Unified School District told parents that officials at one of its middle schools had been made aware of AI-generated nude photos of students, which the superintendent said put students' faces on nude bodies, and a city official said police were investigating pupils whom authorities said used AI tools to create and share the images. In March 2024 the district confirmed the expulsion of five eighth-grade pupils; the superintendent said 16 students were targeted. Students and parents told NBC News they were afraid to go to school. The district did not say how it determined that AI was used.
Core concern High reported severity Involving minors Internal Action
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution supported · 3 sources · Added 22/10/2026
2023JapanUnidentified image tool
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police arrested a 31-year-old unemployed man on 19 January 2026 on suspicion of displaying obscene electronic records, for posting on member sites obscene images made with image-generation AI to resemble female celebrities, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported. Police believe that since summer 2023 he posted more than 500,000 sexual deepfakes using images of about 300 actresses and idols and earned about 11 million yen in viewing fees. According to investigative sources, the charge covers a dozen or so obscene images resembling female celebrities posted on two member sites between December 2024 and May 2025. Police say he trained a freely available image-generation AI on the women's images, advertised with sample images on X and Instagram, and took requests from higher-paying members for which celebrity to depict.
Core concern Medium reported severity Criminal Charges
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 1 source · Added 22/10/2026
Event date unknownChinaUnidentified image tool
Beijing police and the Haidian District People's Procuratorate, as reported by CCTV in June 2024 and again in July 2026, said a 24-year-old technician at an internet company used AI "one-click undress" software to make fake nude images from ordinary photos that customers sent him, advertising the service on an overseas social-media platform at 1.5 yuan an image. Prosecutors said that over a few months he made nearly 7,000 such images and sold them to 351 people, and that the women depicted included students, teachers and colleagues of the customers. The case came to light after a police report in Haidian district. The procuratorate charged him with spreading obscene material for profit and also filed a public-interest suit because the images infringed the rights of unspecified people. He admitted knowing the images could be used for extortion or to damage people's reputations. CCTV reported in July 2026 that in 2024 he was sentenced to three years in prison for making and selling obscene material for profit; the result of the public-interest suit is not reported in the sources read.
Core concern High reported severity Criminal Charges
AI involvement supported · Causal attribution supported · 2 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 22/10/2026
Oct 2024JapanUnidentified image tool
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police announced on 16 October 2025 that they had arrested a 31-year-old company employee on suspicion of displaying obscene electronic records, for posting on social media obscene images made with image-generation AI to resemble female celebrities. According to the police, from October 2024 he posted about 20,000 AI-made sexual images resembling 262 actresses, idols and announcers and earned about 1.2 million yen in viewing fees; the charge covers three images resembling three actresses posted between January and June 2025. Police say he trained a freely available image-generation AI on the women's images, let higher-paying viewers name the celebrity to be depicted, and admitted the charge. The police described it as the first arrest over AI-made obscene images resembling celebrities.
Core concern Medium reported severity Criminal Charges
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 2 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 22/10/2026
Event date unknownUnited StatesUnidentified voice-cloning tool
Police in Baltimore County, Maryland, said in April 2024 that a high school principal had been framed as racist by a fake recording of his voice containing racist and antisemitic comments, which appeared in teachers' email inboxes and spread on social media. Court records cited by the Associated Press say an expert consulted by detectives found traces of AI-generated content with human editing; a second expert found spliced recordings and told AP he had not confirmed the clip was fully AI-generated. The principal went on leave while police guarded his house. The school's athletic director, investigated for using AI to make the recording in retaliation, entered an Alford plea, maintaining his innocence, and was sentenced in 2025 to four months for disturbing school operations, CBS Baltimore reports.
Core concern Medium reported severity Criminal Charges
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution supported · 2 sources · Added 22/10/2026
Event date unknownRussiaUnidentified video tool
The press service of the Interior Ministry's Primorsky Krai directorate said on 21 October 2026 that it had stopped an online fraud in which scammers used deepfake technology. According to the release, a 77-year-old resident of the Khorolsky district was sent a video-conference link in a messenger app and saw on screen a person resembling the region's governor, who told him of a cyberattack on the regional administration and stolen funds routed abroad through his bank account. He was passed to accomplices posing as law enforcement and financial-monitoring officials, who called him daily for a month and urged him to hand over his savings. He withdrew one million roubles but became suspicious and went to the police, who arrested a courier when he handed her a dummy package. A criminal case for attempted large-scale fraud was opened. The police did not say how they established that a deepfake was used.
Core concern Low reported severity Criminal Charges
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 2 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 22/10/2026
Event date unknownChinaUnidentified video tool
According to Hangzhou prosecutors and courts as reported by CCTV and relayed by Xinhua in March 2024, police in Xiaoshan district opened a case in August 2022 after finding that a local man was spreading large numbers of obscene videos made with AI technology. Prosecutors said he used AI face-swap software to put faces onto obscene videos, spread them in paid social-media groups to attract customers, sold the software and tutorials, and took custom orders, swapping in the faces of public figures and of private people; one customer asked for the face of a woman he had a crush on. Victims included several well-known public figures and many unspecified private people. In a civil public-interest suit brought by prosecutors, the Hangzhou Internet Court ordered him to delete the personal information he had obtained, apologise publicly and pay 60,000 yuan for personal-information protection. In November 2023 the Xiaoshan District People's Court sentenced him to seven years and three months in prison and a 60,000-yuan fine for making and spreading obscene material for profit.
Core concern High reported severity Criminal Charges
AI involvement supported · Causal attribution established · 2 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 22/10/2026