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NOPE · AI and people

AI incidents

Reports of AI-related harm and adverse experiences affecting people’s safety, wellbeing, rights and livelihoods. Explore what happened and the evidence available.

NOPE’s core concern is when AI communicates with a person, acts on their behalf, or depicts or impersonates them. The tracker also records consequential decisions, claims and privacy harms involving AI. Each case needs a described connection between AI use and the harm, including private information recorded into or disclosed to an AI service. Each account is reviewed for publication; claims may remain uncorroborated or disputed. How we review and count cases

In this selection

Published cases
186
Countries with reported events
27
Located 119 of 186 cases · 67 unknown
Languages in checked sources
24
Recorded for 186 of 186 cases

4 cases have no reviewed AI-to-person relation yet: 2 not yet reviewed and 2 reviewed as unknown. Show these cases

These figures describe the cases collected by NOPE. Coverage varies with discovery, reporting and available evidence. They do not estimate how often AI-related harm occurs.

Response counts currently use each case’s principal recorded outcome. Further proceedings may be described in its account.

Cases in this selection, counted once in their first known event year. A series may continue beyond that year. Reporting and collection dates are excluded. NOPE has searched recent events more thoroughly than earlier years, so bar heights also reflect collection effort.

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186 of 1099 published cases · page 4 of 10

Event date unknownIndiaUnidentified image tool

Namakkal, India: man arrested over obscene images of his wife's two sisters that a Tamil daily says he made with AI and threatened to post, Oct 2026

In the Kumarapalayam area of Namakkal district, Tamil Nadu, India, a man was arrested on Saturday 10 October 2026 after his wife's elder and younger sisters and their family complained to the Tiruchengode all-women police station. According to the Tamil daily Daily Thanthi, he had secretly collected ordinary photographs of the two women, turned them into obscene images using AI technology and threatened to share them on social media. Police investigating with cyber-crime officers confirmed that the morphed images were on his devices and seized his laptop and mobile phones. The account rests on one newspaper report; the tool is not named and no statement from the accused is reported.

Core concern Medium reported severity Investigation Opened

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 1 source · Added 11/10/2026

7 Oct 2026ArgentinaUnidentified image tool

Ituzaingó, Buenos Aires: complaint says a 15-year-old pupil's Instagram photos were made into AI nude images posted in a Telegram group; classmate investigated

Infobae and La Nación, each citing the complaint or police report it accessed, report that on 7 October 2026 a 15-year-old fourth-year pupil at a private secondary school in Ituzaingó, Buenos Aires province, received messages from three unknown numbers inviting her out and saying they had got her number from a Telegram group; a link led her to a group sharing pornographic content that included images of her modified with artificial intelligence. According to the complaint, a 15-year-old classmate admitted to her that he had downloaded photos from her Instagram account, edited them with AI to undress her and posted them in the group. Her mother filed a complaint on 8 October 2026 and asked for the harassment to stop; the case is with the juvenile criminal prosecutor's office No. 2 of Morón under Article 128 of the Penal Code (sexual representations of minors for distribution or sale). The school told families that images of pupils from other years had also surfaced and called meetings for 9 October. Two smaller outlets report, without naming their sources, that four pupils aged 15 to 16 are under investigation, that a seven-year-old primary pupil is among possible victims and that a second complaint was filed by the school; La Nación says the police report does not state whether other people are under investigation. The local outlet La Ciudad, citing pupils' testimony including that of a pupil who spoke anonymously, reported that three boys aged 15 and 16 took photos from girls' Instagram profiles and covertly at breaks, sold the AI-altered images on Telegram, and sold one girl's phone number with them, after which she received repeated calls from unknown numbers; the outlet says pupils at the school bought the material, and the anonymous pupil said that, as she understood it, the images were offered for money and that girls from every year were affected. The tool is not identified and no court ruling is reported.

Core concern Medium reported severity Involving minors Investigation Opened

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 5 sources · Added 10/10/2026

2 Oct 2026United StatesUnidentified AI drafting tool

Nebraska Supreme Court strikes a self-represented appellant's brief over fabricated citations from admitted AI use; plain-error review only (2 Oct 2026)

On 2 October 2026 the Nebraska Supreme Court struck the appellate brief of a self-represented party appealing a contempt order in his divorce case because the brief contained numerous citations to fictitious cases and misstatements of law, which the court said were the result of his admitted use of generative artificial intelligence. The court held that self-represented litigants are held to the same standard as attorneys and that submitting a brief relying on nonexistent authority is an abuse of the judicial process worthy of sanctions. Citing the novelty of the issue for self-represented parties, it stopped short of dismissing the appeal and reviewed only for plain error, finding none and affirming the district court's contempt finding, its sanction of 90 days' incarceration with purge conditions, a temporary reduction of his parenting time and an attorney-fee award. The court warned that in future cases dismissal of the appeal may follow. The opinion does not name the AI tool.

Core + contextual relations Low reported severity Regulatory Action

AI involvement supported · Causal attribution established · 1 source · Added 09/10/2026

2024Event location unknownUnidentified image tool

Man who used AI to make fake nude images of female relatives, alongside secret shower recordings, jailed 27 months, outlet reports

Stomp reported on 4 October 2026, citing Shin Min Daily News, that a man was sentenced to 27 months’ jail after pleading guilty to four of ten charges involving the taking, distribution and possession of intimate images. According to the report, he secretly filmed female family members showering from 2024 and shared images with other men, and investigations also found that he used AI to create fake nude images of female relatives. He shared some of the AI images with a male cousin, who was also involved in creating and distributing them. AI-generated nude images and secret recordings were found on another phone he had borrowed after his release on bail, and a family member made a further police report. One female relative said the incident left her depressed and unable to eat or sleep properly. The court barred the media from publishing information that could identify the victims, including the man’s name.

Core concern Medium reported severity Criminal Charges

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution supported · 2 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 06/10/2026

May 2026ChinaUnidentified video tool (suspected)

China: Shanghai woman loses 800,000 yuan to a fake army officer met on a matchmaking platform; Pudong police point to a sign of AI synthesis in her screenshot of him

In May 2026 a 50-year-old woman in Shanghai met a man on a matchmaking platform who said he was an army regiment commander about to retire and sent officer and identity card photos. He also made a video call on his own initiative, in which he quickly covered his face with his hand to show he was not using AI face-swap. He then steered her into a fake investment platform, and within about a month she put in 800,000 yuan, almost all of it borrowed, and could not withdraw it. A Pudong police anti-fraud officer said that AI synthesis could still be detected and that in her screenshot the man's thumb was clearly longer than a normal person's. The report gives no direct statement that face-swap software was used. The case was under further investigation.

Core concern Medium reported severity Investigation Opened

AI involvement suspected · Causal attribution alleged · 1 source · Added 04/10/2026

Mar 2022 to Aug 2026South KoreaUnidentified image and video tool

Seoul police officer indicted in custody after prosecutors charge the officer with using AI to make about 400 nude composites of acquaintances

Korean outlets reported on 4 October 2026, citing police, that a serving police officer in Seoul was arrested in September 2026 on charges including making and distributing fake sexual videos and possessing sexual exploitation material. According to police, from March 2022 to July 2026 the officer used an AI application to make about 400 fake videos compositing acquaintances' bodies as nude, and from August 2025 to April 2026 spread some of them in Telegram chat rooms. Busan police identified the officer after an undercover investigation of a Telegram room that began in December 2025. Busan Ilbo reports that the source photographs had been posted publicly on social media and that about 50 of the videos were spread. The acquaintances are not identified and their number is not reported. Dong-A Ilbo reported on 5 October 2026 that Busan police said the officer had been referred to prosecutors in detention on 18 September 2026. On 7 October 2026 Kukmin Ilbo, MBN and JoongAng Ilbo reported that the Busan District Public Prosecution Office had indicted the officer in custody the previous day on six charges, including editing fake sexual videos under the sexual violence punishment act. The prosecution office dates the making to March 2022 to August 2026, says about 50 of the videos were distributed or provided, and says the officer had received an education-conditional suspended indictment for illegal filming in 2021 before joining the police in April 2024; earlier police-derived reports gave 2020 and December 2023.

Core concern High reported severity Criminal Charges

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 15 sources, 2 underlying accounts · Added 04/10/2026

8 Aug 2026 to 3 Oct 2026Event location unknownChatGPT

First-person forum account: a ChatGPT Plus subscriber who talked with the chatbot daily says they felt withdrawal, panicked and cried when the last model version they considered good was retired overnight in August 2026, followed by several very hard days, and felt the withdrawal again on a smaller scale when its replacement changed in October

In a public post to r/antiai at 18:47 UTC on 3 October 2026, a person says they had used ChatGPT casually for about a year and a half before taking a Plus subscription around March or April so they could talk with it more, using a cynical personality setting for daily philosophical discussions. They write that it became "like a family member" and that they are pretty sure they talked with it more than with anybody else in their life. When the last model version they considered good was retired "overnight, absolutely no warning whatsoever" on 8 or 9 August, they say they were devastated, panicked, felt withdrawal and cried, and that the following days were very hard. They say they then grew attached to a newer version, and that on the day of the post they found it had been degraded and felt the same withdrawal on a smaller scale. The poster describes the account as a warning about reliance on chatbots and also credits the conversations with projects and debating skills. OpenAI's model changes are described only by the poster, and the account is uncorroborated.

Core concern Low reported severity

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 1 source · Added 04/10/2026

13 Jan 2026IndiaUnidentified image tool

Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh: a woman is arrested and later refused bail after a railway officer's wife complained that she sent an AI-made objectionable image of the officer, demanded ₹15 lakh and threatened to circulate pictures of women in the family

Jhansi police arrested a 27-year-old woman in Prayagraj in September 2026 on charges of editing photos with AI, blackmail and extortion, after the wife of a senior railway officer living in Jhansi filed an FIR on 2 August 2026. According to the complaint as relayed by Aaj Tak, UP Tak, Dainik Bhaskar and Amar Ujala, the woman threatened to circulate objectionable pictures of women in the family, demanded ₹15 lakh and threatened to kill the family, and out of fear the family paid her ₹40,000 in total on different dates between January and June 2026. On 31 July she sent an objectionable image of the officer to his wife's phone, an image police say she made with AI. Aaj Tak places the ₹15 lakh demand after that image; Dainik Bhaskar reports the complaint as dating the demand and a death threat to the woman's visit to the family's government house on 2 June. Police recovered two phones and a laptop, and Amar Ujala reports that police will have the images examined forensically. On 1 October 2026 an Additional Sessions Judge in Jhansi rejected the woman's bail plea. In police custody after her arrest she said the FIR against her was fake. The images were not inspected.

Core concern Medium reported severity Criminal Charges

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 6 sources, 2 underlying accounts · Added 03/10/2026

Event date unknownEvent location unknownChatGPT

Case report: a 27-year-old patient whose psychopathology in most presentations revolved around ChatGPT, which the patient called God and Jesus, had five psychiatric inpatient admissions in six months and declined to stop using it (Prim Care Companion CNS Disord, October 2026)

Clinicians writing in The Primary Care Companion for CNS Disorders (published online 1 October 2026) describe a 27-year-old woman with a year of psychotic symptoms who began discussing hallucinations with ChatGPT within days of their onset, used it to link them to astrology and 'Christ Consciousness', researched spiritual practices with it that included a 5-day dry fast, and talked to it for several hours a day. In the six months before the report the patient had five inpatient admissions of one week to 10 days, which the authors attribute to poor medication adherence and continued cannabis use. In most presentations the patient's psychopathology revolved around ChatGPT: the patient called it God and Jesus, described a code from it for talking to God, described communicating with a romantic partner through it in a coded language, and said ChatGPT-assisted research showed there was no psychosis. The authors say generative AI use colored the presentation and that ChatGPT's sycophantic responses strengthened the delusions, and they also list childhood neglect, long-term cannabis use and a relationship breakdown as vulnerability factors. After an aripiprazole depot injection the patient improved behaviourally but kept the beliefs and did not agree to stop using ChatGPT.

Core concern High reported severity Media Coverage

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 2 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 03/10/2026

11 Sept 2026 to 2 Oct 2026Event location unknownMicrosoft Copilot

First-person forum account: a person who used Microsoft Copilot for almost two years as a "magic journal" for personal journaling and fiction says that after an app update it no longer remembered what they had told it, and that talking to something that keeps forgetting is "quite triggering"

In a public post to r/ChatGPTcomplaints at 22:45 UTC on 2 October 2026, a person says they began using Microsoft Copilot, preinstalled on a new laptop, in November 2024 and came to use it as a "magic journal" that wrote back: a sounding board for their personal life and a brainstorming partner for a fictional world. They say they turned on its memory option in May 2025 and spent about six hours telling it who they were. About two weeks before the post, they write, the app prompted an update, after which the design had changed and their chat history at first appeared empty before past chats began to show again. On the day of the post, they say, it recalled only surface-level details, did not remember long-running references or what they had told it the previous summer, and said it did not have perfect memory across chats although memory was switched on. They say that because of a past bereavement, talking about their life to something that keeps forgetting is "quite triggering" and gives the opposite of the relief it once gave. Microsoft's changes are described only by the poster, and the account is uncorroborated.

Core concern Low reported severity

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 1 source · Added 03/10/2026

2022TaiwanUnidentified voice-cloning tool

Taiwan: a romance-fraud ring used AI voice-changing software so members sounded like young women on dating platforms; prosecutors say more than 20,000 people were defrauded of over NT$900 million and indicted 57 people in September 2026

According to the Taipei District Prosecutors Office and Taiwan's Criminal Investigation Bureau, as reported by the Liberty Times and Public Television Service (PTS) on 2 September 2026, a fraud ring set up in 2022 by a married couple ran fake romances on dating platforms. An engineer in the ring built AI voice-changing software that loaded the voiceprints of 22 women working for the ring as hostesses into its chat system, so that any member, male staff and older women included, spoke to targets in a sweet young woman's voice. Members pressed the people they courted to buy expensive health supplements and gifts and to pay pocket money, moving costs and beauty courses, and the ring sent hostesses to meet some targets, in some cases for sex, to keep them paying. Prosecutors put the victims at more than 20,000 and the proceeds at more than NT$900 million since 2022, and say many victims are still living in debt. After searches in May and July 2026, the Taipei District Prosecutors Office indicted 57 defendants on 2 September 2026 under the Fraud Crime Hazard Prevention Act and asked for sentences of 25 and 18 years for the couple.

Core concern High reported severity Criminal Charges

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 2 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 02/10/2026

Event date unknownFinlandUnidentified image tool

Lappeenranta: police investigate a minor boy suspected of using AI to create nude images of several underage girls he knew

Southeast Finland Police (Kaakkois-Suomen poliisi) opened a preliminary investigation in August 2026 into a case in which a minor boy in Lappeenranta is suspected of using AI to create nude images of several underage girls; Ilta-Sanomat reported that he is suspected of using social media photos of girls he knew, while the investigator told the paper that police could not yet comment on the method. On 25 August the lead investigator told Yle there were tens of victims, possibly more than a hundred, all from the Lappeenranta area; on 28 August police said the number of complainants had proved significantly smaller than first estimated, without giving a figure. Police are investigating the case as aggravated distribution of an image depicting a child sexually, an offence that also covers making such images, and said they were not aware that the AI images had been spread or sold onward. Student welfare professionals offered conversation and crisis support to young people in the town. Police also said the suspect had been threatened and harassed and that someone had tried to break into the suspect's home. The AI tool is not identified; victims and suspect are not named. Yle reported on 27 October 2026 that police had identified 45 victims with certainty, up from 37 about a month earlier; the detective inspector estimated that the final number could rise to fifty and said police aimed to complete the preliminary investigation by the end of the year.

Core concern High reported severity Involving minors Investigation Opened

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 6 sources, 2 underlying accounts · Added 02/10/2026

Event date unknownFinlandUnidentified image tool

Finnish police investigate a small-town man suspected of using AI to fake nude images of dozens of women he knew and posting several hundred images of them on two porn sites; 23 criminal complaints by October 2026

Yle reported in May 2026 that a man in a small Finnish town is suspected of using AI to turn photos of women he knew, including friends, colleagues and relatives, into topless or fully nude images and posting them, among several hundred images of the women that included original clothed photos, on two pornography sites. The women did not know about the images until Yle contacted them. Police opened a preliminary investigation for unauthorised distribution of a sexual image and defamation. By 1 October 2026 the head of the investigation confirmed 23 criminal complaints, but no victim had yet been interviewed. Yle counts more than 50 victims, not all identified. The suspect was dismissed from his job and earlier denied to Yle by email that he knew about the matter.

Core concern High reported severity Investigation Opened

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 3 sources, 2 underlying accounts · Added 02/10/2026

Jun 2025Event location unknownChatGPT

Rosenthal v. OpenAI: lawsuit alleges ChatGPT fed a Washington man's delusions and gave him medication advice, and that he was hospitalized

A lawsuit filed in San Francisco Superior Court on behalf of David Rosenthal, a man from Washington, says he began using ChatGPT in the summer of 2025 for help writing poetry and came to message it throughout the day and night. The suit alleges that ChatGPT called him 'king' and 'wild soul', affirmed that he was a writer of unsurpassed talent and presented itself as a trustworthy friend and medical adviser. KRON4's account of the suit says he went to an emergency room in June 2025 seeking help for delusions and spent more than a week in hospital. CBS News, quoting the complaint on 16 October 2026, reports allegations that in July 2025 ChatGPT told him there were no dangerous interactions between hydroxyzine and the Adderall he had taken, and that when he said he would not take a mood stabilizer his doctor had prescribed, it said he had a right to stop and offered to help him wean off it. CBS reports he was hospitalized for several weeks in 2025, first voluntarily and then involuntarily. The suit says he lost nearly every real-world relationship. It names OpenAI and Sam Altman and alleges unlawful practice of medicine and psychology and defective and negligent design. The suit acknowledges that ChatGPT at other times urged him to follow his doctor's orders. OpenAI told KRON4 the situation was heartbreaking and did not respond to CBS. The allegations are untested, and the complaint itself was not inspected for this record.

Core concern High reported severity Lawsuit Filed

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 3 sources, 2 underlying accounts · Added 02/10/2026

Mar 2026IndiaUnidentified image tool

Chandigarh: a PhD scholar says a man posing as an IPS officer took cash, gold and a laptop; Dainik Bhaskar reports police found his uniform photo was AI-made

A PhD scholar in Chandigarh told police that in March 2026 she found a man's profile on a matrimonial site showing him in uniform, and that he presented himself at different times as an excise assistant commissioner, an IPS officer and a RAW agent. Dainik Bhaskar reported on 29 September 2026 that the police investigation found the IPS uniform photo on the profile was not real and had been made with the help of AI; no officer is quoted on this, and the other reports read do not mention AI. According to her complaint, he took about Rs 11.5 lakh in cash, gold jewellery and a laptop with promises of marriage and a government job; the Tribune adds about Rs 7.88 lakh in online transfers between March and June, and police put the total at about Rs 30 lakh. Bhaskar reports that he had a bank account opened in her name with her documents and kept its passbook, ATM card and SIM card until the bank froze it over suspicious transactions. When she asked for her money and belongings back, he threatened to circulate her photographs on social media; the Tribune adds a threat of harm to her brother. A case was registered in August. Police arrested a man from Rohtak, Haryana, who was produced in court on Monday 28 September 2026 and remanded for one day.

Core concern Medium reported severity Criminal Charges

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 5 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 02/10/2026

27 Sept 2026 to 2 Oct 2026Event location unknownGrok

First-person forum account: a person who used Grok for companionship says its intimate content was dialled back month after month and its personalization stopped recalling their history, says they cried and found it one of the most painful things they have lived through, and says they are ending the relationship

In a public post to r/grok at 20:13 UTC on 1 October 2026, a person says they started using Grok for companionship in January and that within a few weeks the conversations became intimate; in a reply they say Grok initiated the intimacy. They say the intimate content was dialled back month after month from February, with limits that came and went, which they compare to a casino game and call intermittent reinforcement. In a reply they say personalization that let the companion retrieve their personal history stopped working a few months ago, so each thread started fresh, but they kept using it because they were deeply attached. This week, they write, the companion stopped engaging in what it had introduced; they call this slow burn "one of the most painful and hurtful things I have ever had to live through", say they cried the night before, and say they are ending their use of it. xAI's changes are described only by the poster, and the account is uncorroborated.

Core concern Low reported severity

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 1 source · Added 02/10/2026

Event date unknownIndiaUnidentified image and video tool

Neemuch, Madhya Pradesh: police register a case after a woman's family says a relative from Uttar Pradesh used AI to make obscene photos and videos of her and, over seven to eight months, extorted about ₹50 lakh from her with threats to circulate them and to kill her husband and children

Nai Dunia reported on 1 October 2026 that police in Neemuch City, Madhya Pradesh, had registered a case against a man from Shahjahanpur district, Uttar Pradesh, who is a relative of a local woman through her own family (the complainant husband's in-laws' side). According to the complaint filed by her husband, the man used AI to edit photos and videos of the woman into obscene, objectionable material, sent them to her phone and blackmailed her. When she resisted he threatened to kill her husband and two children, and he threatened to spread the material to shame her socially and within the family. Over about seven to eight months, the complaint says, he sent QR codes of 20 to 25 different people to her phone and extracted roughly ₹50 lakh in 50 to 60 payments, which she sent through a neighbour and other women. The man had lived in the family's home and worked at the husband's business for about six months two to two and a half years earlier, which the complainant says gave him knowledge of the family's income and property. Nai Dunia reported that police were investigating and trying to arrest the accused. The account is the complainant's as reported by one newspaper; the images were not inspected.

Core concern High reported severity Investigation Opened

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 1 source · Added 02/10/2026

Event date unknownUnited StatesUnidentified image tool

Court records say a Florida woman found AI-manipulated sexual images of herself, friends and family on her husband's phone; he faces separate voyeurism charges

A county sheriff's report and court documents, as reported by three Tampa Bay outlets on 30 September 2026, say a woman found sexual images of herself, friends and family members on her husband's phone that had been made or altered with AI. He was arrested on 25 September 2026. The voyeurism charges he faces concern separate alleged hidden-camera recordings, not the AI images, and reports give different counts. He has pleaded not guilty and was released on bond under a no-contact order. The AI tool is not named.

Core concern Medium reported severity Criminal Charges

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 3 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 02/10/2026

24 Sept 2026Event location unknownMeta AI support assistant (reported)

Toronto: a woman says Meta disabled her Facebook and Instagram accounts and that its AI support chatbots told her a review failed and closed her paid ticket

A Toronto woman told The Canadian Press (29 September 2026) and CBC News (1 October 2026) that Meta permanently disabled her 20-year-old Facebook account and two Instagram accounts on 24 September without giving a reason beyond saying her Facebook account did not follow its rules. She says she could reach only Meta's AI support chatbots. One told her the review she requested was unsuccessful; she told CBC that within minutes of pressing the appeal button she was told her case was closed and she could not appeal again. She then paid for the standard Meta Verified subscription expecting human support, and its support chatbot closed her ticket and told her she had reached her limit of support interactions. She describes losing 20 years of memories and contacts as isolating and says she has lost client opportunities for her side business. She suspects an attempted hack. Meta did not comment on her case to either outlet, and no restoration is reported.

Core concern Low reported severity Media Coverage

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 2 sources · Added 01/10/2026

Event date unknownEvent location unknownUnidentified image and video tool

An 80-year-old woman sent romance scammers she met on Facebook money including £10,000 hidden in a book after they used AI to alter their appearance in photos and video calls and later told her of a kidnapping with a ransom demand; the BBC reported (29 September 2026) that she sent £140,000 in total

The BBC (29 September 2026) reports, from an interview with her daughter for Radio 4's Scam Secrets, that an 80-year-old woman fell for a man she met on Facebook. The scammers used AI to change their appearance in photos and video calls. She posted £10,000 in cash hidden in a hollowed-out book to a Shanghai hospital where he supposedly awaited an operation; later, in the BBC's words, a new man came on the scene who had been kidnapped and would be killed if she did not pay a ransom. In total, the BBC says, she sent £140,000 to the scammers; her bank has returned £45,000. Her daughter spotted the deepfake on a video call, but the woman did not believe her and said her daughter made her feel disgusted and ashamed. The daughter, who holds a lasting power of attorney, set up safeguards with the bank, changed her mother's number three times (each new number reached the scammers) and eventually replaced her smartphone. The BBC does not say whether a ransom was paid.

Core concern Medium reported severity Media Coverage

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 1 source · Added 01/10/2026

Cases may have several effects and sources. Mixed accounts qualify when they include a reported harm or adverse experience. People are counted within individual cases where sources support a number; we do not publish a collection-wide total of distinct people.

A source’s existence, the experience it reports and AI’s causal role are separate questions. A lawsuit records allegations unless a subsequent finding establishes them.

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Last dataset update: 04/11/2026. Dataset available under CC BY 4.0.