28 Oct 2025Event location unknownPriceline Penny
A reader of The Telegraph's consumer column, writing from north London, says that on 28 October 2025 Priceline's AI chatbot Penny, the only contact route the reader could find, said a non-refundable three-night hotel booking in Thailand costing £386.91 was eligible for a full refund. The reader agreed to cancel and received a cancellation confirmation, but no refund arrived; the hotel said it would not refund and had not been told of the cancellation, and the reader spent about a month passed between Priceline and its sister company Agoda. After the columnist pressed Priceline, it paid £363.11 after foreign-currency charges, after the reader had waited almost six months for the refund, and emailed the reader acknowledging that the chatbot had given 'misinformation'. The column was published on 18 May 2026.
Core concern Low reported severity Media Coverage
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution supported · 2 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 06/10/2026
Jan 2025Event location unknownUnidentified voice-cloning tool
Chinese outlets reported on 29 September 2026, citing the Shanghai courts, that the Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People's Court had concluded what it called Shanghai's first voice-rights case arising from AI-synthesised speech. According to the court's account, a voice actor who publishes work on an app learned from a friend in January 2025 that a company appeared to be using the voice actor's voice in an online user-acquisition promotion, judged the audio to be AI-synthesised, had it notarised and sued for 300,000 yuan. The company said the audio was generated by AI it had developed but that the training material could not be confirmed, and denied using the voice actor's voice. A forensic comparison rated about 90 percent of the measured features as fairly or highly similar. The first-instance court awarded 50,000 yuan and both sides appealed. The appeal court held that the company had put an identifiable synthetic voice to commercial use without consent, dismissed the appeals and upheld the award.
Core concern Low reported severity Lawsuit Filed
AI involvement supported · Causal attribution supported · 3 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 05/10/2026
Apr 2025Event location unknownUnidentified video tool
RTL Info (Belgium) reported on 3 October 2025 that in April a woman, identified only by first name, came across an online video in which the King of the Belgians appeared to promote a platform called AQ Trade AI, offering AI-based investments from €250. The video was a deepfake. After a phone call with a supposed adviser, the viewer paid €250. That night the viewer grew suspicious and called the bank, which immediately blocked the card. The report does not say whether the €250 was recovered. RTL Info ran the account alongside a Belgian authorities' awareness campaign on fake online investment offers.
Core concern Low reported severity Media Coverage
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 1 source · Added 04/10/2026
May 2025United StatesUnidentified video tool
At a sentencing hearing in May 2025 in Maricopa County Superior Court, Arizona, the family of a man killed in a 2021 road-rage shooting in Chandler played a video that combined real footage with an AI-generated likeness and voice of the victim delivering a script written by his sister, including statements of forgiveness addressed to the defendant. The judge said he loved the video, described it as genuine and referred to the forgiveness it expressed, then imposed the presumptive 10.5-year term for manslaughter, longer than the nine years the prosecutor had requested. The defense attorney appealed immediately. On 30 September 2026 the Arizona Court of Appeals upheld the conviction but vacated the sentence, holding that the AI video was not reliable and that the judge's consideration of it so prejudiced the defendant that the sentencing procedure was fundamentally unfair. The opinion says the record does not show precisely how the video factored into the sentence, and that there is no question it played a role. The case returns to the trial court for resentencing; as of 1 October 2026 no new sentencing date had been set.
Core + contextual relations Medium reported severity
AI involvement supported · Causal attribution supported · 7 sources, 6 underlying accounts · Added 02/10/2026
Jun 2025Event location unknownChatGPT
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
2025Event location unknownCharacter.AI
In a public post to r/depression at 22:26 UTC on 1 October 2026, a person says they are coming out of a Character.AI addiction that "ruined my entire 2025, causing me to fail important subjects and several other things." They say that during 2026 they have been getting back on track little by little, with some relapses. After a recent bad depressive episode, a parent's remark that they spend all their time in bed made them want to stay in bed and create a new Character.AI account. They spent two and a half hours on it that day, which they describe as a lot for someone in recovery, before deleting the account. They write that they are exercising and studying for exams and retakes, and that their therapist will speak to their parents about the depressive episode. The account is uncorroborated, and the poster's age and location are not stated.
Core concern Medium reported severity
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 1 source · Added 02/10/2026
Nov 2025Event location unknownUnidentified image and video tool
Narinder Kaur, a 54-year-old broadcaster and regular TV commentator, told the Daily Mail (30 September 2026) that one morning in November 2025 she opened X and found sexually explicit images of herself, made by taking photographs she had shared on Instagram and removing her clothing with a so-called nudification app. Since then she has been tagged in at least 20 more deepfaked pictures and videos, some linking her to Jeffrey Epstein. She says she fell into a depression in the early weeks and her GP suggested antidepressants, that commenters treated the images as real, and that she fears her teenage children will see them. She has reported each image and had numerous police visits, but no perpetrator has been identified because the accounts are anonymous and deleted when reported. She has joined the Stop AI Abuse campaign.
Core concern Medium reported severity Media Coverage
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 1 source · Added 01/10/2026
2025Event location unknownUnidentified chatbot
In a commentary published by JURIST on 29 September 2026, Ross Cline, a Canadian who lived in Taichung for 15 years and was convicted there under Taiwan's Personal Data Protection Act (six months' imprisonment; final at the Supreme Court on 16 October 2024), writes that across four years of proceedings no document was translated for him, some hearings had no interpreter, and he read every summons, ruling and prosecutor's letter through a consumer chatbot, 'the only version I had'. In 2025 he ran a letter from a Taiwanese oversight body (the Control Yuan, per his media-brief page) through two systems; they disagreed on its central holding. He believed the one that told him what he wanted to hear, published that reading, cited it to journalists and began building a legal submission on it. In October 2025 the agency confirmed in writing that its letter did not say that; he withdrew the claim, killed the submission before filing and rewrote his public materials so that the correction leads. His own media-brief page carries a correction notice withdrawing two earlier statements. He argues that machine translation has become the interpreter of record by default for unrepresented non-citizens, that a fluent wrong translation reads as authoritative, and that courts should enforce the existing right to an interpreter. His conviction itself is not attributed to the chatbot.
Core concern Low reported severity
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 2 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 30/09/2026
2025IndonesiaUnidentified image and video tool
Indonesian businessman Mohamad Jusuf Hamka reported to Jakarta police on 18 October 2025 that videos circulating on TikTok showed him and his daughter as if wearing prosecutors' detainee uniforms, tied to narratives of corruption, bribery and gratification over the Cawang-Pluit toll concession, which he denies and his lawyers call false; his lawyers say the faces were composited into staged scenes with AI, and that other content called him a 'toll mafia' and posted a fabricated poster of him running for president in 2029. Polda Metro Jaya's cyber directorate arrested the holder of the TikTok accounts on 27 November 2025; Hamka and his lawyers say the defendant admitted to police that he made the content on others' instructions for Rp500,000 per item; tvOneNews and TVRI note this is Hamka's side's claim within the contested case, and Poskota reports it is being examined at trial. The case file was reported complete (P21) on 12 August 2026 and the trial opened at the Central Jakarta District Court on 15 September 2026 under the Electronic Information and Transactions Law (Article 35 jo 51(1), maximum 12 years) and alternative counts. Hamka told reporters the content disturbed him and could damage his reputation and that the campaign was systematic. At the 29 September 2026 hearing the judges asked about restorative justice; Hamka's lawyer said there was no room for it unless the defendant named who ordered and paid for the content. The defendant's lawyer said the content related to his work as secretary-general of an anti-corruption committee and that the indictment was unclear.
Core concern Low reported severity Criminal Charges
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 9 sources, 4 underlying accounts · Added 30/09/2026
Nov 2025United StatesAmazon Buy for Me
The owner of Mochi Kids, a children's apparel brand that has deliberately avoided selling on Amazon, told Modern Retail that she found her catalogue of 4,000 products for sale on Amazon through the Buy for Me feature after watching another merchant's viral video posted on 28 December. Amazon's announcement says Buy for Me uses agentic AI to complete purchases on a brand's website on a customer's behalf. She said she had received around 16 Buy for Me orders since November, fulfilled some of them before realising they came from Amazon, and has been cancelling all such orders; she planned to email Amazon to opt out. Modern Retail reports that one of the brand's wholesale partners, which bars Amazon sales of its products, contacted the retailer after finding its products listed, and that the retailer had to reassure it that it had not listed them intentionally; the owner said it builds distrust. Amazon says businesses can opt out by email and are removed promptly, and that it had received positive feedback on the programmes. No net financial loss or lost contract is reported.
Core concern Low reported severity
AI involvement supported · Causal attribution alleged · 2 sources · Added 30/09/2026
Dec 2025United StatesAmazon Buy for Me
The owner of Bobo Design Studio, a stationery brand that sells through its own Shopify store and has avoided Amazon, told Modern Retail that in late December 2025 she noticed a series of unusual orders from an @buyforme.amazon email address and discovered that her catalogue was listed for sale on Amazon through the Buy for Me feature, which she says she never opted into. Amazon's announcement says Buy for Me uses agentic AI to complete purchases on a brand's website on a customer's behalf. She said several orders were for products that were out of stock or no longer existed on her website, and that she cancelled several of those purchases and issued refunds. She contacted Amazon to opt out; Amazon says businesses can opt out by email and are removed promptly, and said it had received positive feedback on the programme. One listing showed a wrong stock image; Amazon says it does not generate AI images of a brand's products and the image's origin is unknown.
Core concern Low reported severity
AI involvement supported · Causal attribution alleged · 2 sources · Added 30/09/2026
Jul 2025CanadaUnidentified video tool
SooToday interviewed an 86-year-old Sault Ste Marie retiree who was first deceived in July 2025 by a Facebook ad featuring a purported AI-generated Mark Carney investment video. The report describes nearly C$1 million lost over several months through retirement withdrawals, a mortgage and credit-card borrowing. She said she was devastated; her friend described missed bills and loss of her car. The report also says withdrawing retirement funds affected her benefit eligibility. Those later consequences are reported, without an independently inspected financial file.
Core concern High reported severity
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 1 source · Added 30/09/2026
Mar 2025United StatesUnidentified image tool
The Bucks County Courier Times reported that Newtown Township police charged a juvenile after an allegation that he used AI to create sexual images of female classmates. The incident reportedly occurred in March 2025. The source gives an upper estimate of as many as twelve girls and says sharing was unknown; it does not establish a numeric minimum. The specific charges and later juvenile case outcome were not disclosed.
Core concern Medium reported severity Involving minors
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 1 source · Added 30/09/2026
26 Aug 2025 to 7 Nov 2025United StatesUnidentified image tool
A Louisiana sheriff's office and school district said an investigation found AI-generated nude images of eight middle-school girls and two adults shared among students in August 2025. One girl's family told AP she was bullied all day, attacked a boy showing the images on the school bus, and was expelled and sent to an alternative school before the school board let her return on probation. Two boys were charged under a state law on AI-created images. The district said it followed its protocols.
Core concern High reported severity Criminal Charges
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 2 sources · Added 30/09/2026
2025United KingdomUnidentified image tool
The Guardian reported that letters containing digitally faked sexual images of an exiled Hong Kong activist were sent to her former neighbours in Maidenhead in recent weeks. The activist said she was terrified and described the letters as escalating harassment using AI or digital tools. The sender and exact image-creation method remain unknown. Earlier bounty letters and a separate Australian poster campaign are distinct events.
Core concern Medium reported severity
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 1 source · Added 30/09/2026
22 Jul 2025MaltaUnidentified video tool
A woman told a Maltese court that she first encountered a purported Robert Abela deepfake on Facebook on 22 July 2025. She said she subsequently paid €53,250, almost all her life savings, into a fraudulent investment scheme. The accused in the associated proceedings pleaded not guilty. The reports relay testimony and police allegations; they do not establish guilt or technically verify the videos.
Core concern Medium reported severity
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 2 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 30/09/2026
9 Jul 2025United StatesUnidentified voice-cloning tool (suspected)
A Hillsborough County woman told WFLA that she handed over $15,000 after a caller sounded like her daughter and another person claimed the daughter needed bond money. The report dates the call to the preceding Wednesday, 9 July 2025. The family believes the voice had been generated from social media videos with AI. A later demand was stopped when the family reached the real daughter. The woman said the money was savings she shared with her retired husband. Technical confirmation of voice cloning is unavailable.
Core concern Medium reported severity
AI involvement suspected · Causal attribution alleged · 1 source · Added 30/09/2026
25 Feb 2025 to 23 Apr 2025IndiaUnidentified video tool
Bengaluru police said a retired woman lost about Rs 3.75 crore after encountering a purported AI-generated video of Sadhguru promoting investments. The Indian Express reports that the contact and transfers took place from 25 February to 23 April 2025. According to the reported FIR, the video led to a trading platform and subsequent contact with scammers, who showed apparent profits. The woman realised the problem when withdrawal attempts prompted further payment demands. Police were attempting to freeze accounts, while warning recovery would be difficult.
Core concern High reported severity
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 2 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 30/09/2026
Mar 2025Event location unknownUnidentified video tool
Economist David Rosenberg told The Globe and Mail (18 June 2025) that ads on Facebook and Instagram since March 2025 promoted a fake investment program listing him as its administrator and redirected people to a WhatsApp group. The Globe reported that one investor interviewed estimated losing $16,000, another said she lost $500,000 in a week, and a third alleged losing $450,000 in life savings. Rosenberg told BNN Bloomberg on 7 July 2025 that the scammers used a fake AI voice and video of him, and a Globe column of 17 July 2025 described a deepfake video advert. Losses are self-reported and unverified. The AI characterisation comes from Rosenberg and a July Globe column, and the June Globe article on the investors does not mention AI. A Toronto police detective said no victim had reported to police.
Core concern Medium reported severity
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 4 sources, 3 underlying accounts · Added 29/09/2026
Mar 2025Event location unknownUnidentified video tool
City AM (dated 21 March 2025) reported that a fake video using AI to pose as Michael Hewson, host of the Good Money Guide Podcast, circulated on Facebook and Instagram that week and directed users to a WhatsApp group with promises of undervalued investments. Hewson said on X that the advert had nothing to do with Hewson, that it had been reported and was being taken up with Meta, and that Hewson was very angry. A Good Money Guide article dated 3 June 2025 (which may describe the same advert or a later one) reported that its report to Meta had not led to removal three days later and that the sponsored post had been viewed 29,000 times. No person is reported to have joined the group or lost money.
Core concern Low reported severity
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 2 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 29/09/2026