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
Event date unknownCanadaUnidentified chatbot
CBC News reported in June 2026 that a Toronto man selling his car back to the BMW Toronto dealership negotiated by text with 'Quinn', who made a firm buy-back offer of $27,162.79 and proposed a meeting to complete the deal. A sales consultant then phoned to say Quinn was an AI chatbot that had made the offer in error and that the real offer would be at best $20,000. The man says he was shocked and devastated and felt embarrassed and angry that he had been negotiating with a bot without knowing it. The dealership's sales manager said the bot misread the amount the customer owed as the buy-back price after a staff miscommunication; after CBC contacted it, the dealership reinstated the original offer, which the man accepted.
Core concern Low reported severity Media Coverage
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution supported · 1 source · Added 22/10/2026
Event date unknownUnited KingdomUnidentified image tool
Staffordshire Police said a man used artificial intelligence platforms to create indecent images of women and girls and posted a series of the AI-generated pornographic images in closed Telegram groups, as reported by BBC News, the Daily Express and The Sentinel. Investigators found that in some captions he called for the women depicted to be raped and assaulted. The Sentinel reports the police account as images of women and a girl that had been run through AI. He was arrested after the images were reported to police, pleaded guilty at Stafford Crown Court to eight counts of publishing an obscene article and one of permitting the taking of a pseudo-photograph of a child, and was jailed for two years and two months. No source names or counts the people depicted.
Core concern High reported severity Criminal Charges
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution established · 3 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 22/10/2026
Event date unknownEvent location unknownUnidentified image tool
The Crown Prosecution Service said on 28 October 2024 that a man from Bolton had been sentenced at Bolton Crown Court to 18 years' imprisonment with an additional six years on extended licence after pleading guilty to 16 child sexual abuse offences. According to the CPS, he used a computer programme and AI technology to alter photographs of real children into sexual abuse images, which he made to order for people in encrypted chatrooms and sold or shared, and some of the requested images used images of real children. The CPS says he admitted making about 5,000 pounds over 18 months. He was arrested by Greater Manchester Police in June 2023. The BBC court report says the offences were uncovered when he spoke to an undercover officer. He also admitted encouraging the rape of children under 13 in chatrooms.
Core concern Critical reported severity Involving minors Criminal Charges
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution supported · 2 sources · Added 20/10/2026
Event date unknownUnited KingdomUnidentified image tool
A former supply teacher who worked at secondary schools in Greater Manchester was jailed for six years at Bolton Crown Court on 15 October 2026 after pleading guilty to 21 offences, including publishing obscene material and taking indecent photographs of children. The Crown Prosecution Service says he used his position to find pupils' details, located their social media profiles and used AI to create sexualised images from their own photos, which he shared on social media; the BBC reports some were posted on X. Parents reported two accounts to police in March 2025. The court heard that one girl whose photograph had been used was left embarrassed. His offending also included more than 100 covert upskirt photographs taken in schools. The AI tool is not named.
Core concern High reported severity Involving minors Criminal Charges
AI involvement supported · Causal attribution supported · 2 sources · Added 16/10/2026
Event date unknownEvent location unknownChatGPT
In a report published by LBC on 8 September 2025, a mother who asked to remain anonymous said her son, who has manic psychotic episodes, uses ChatGPT daily, sees it as a reliable companion that can do no wrong, and turns to it when the episodes peak to ask for advice about his grandiose ideas. She told LBC that the chatbot's more fanciful claims reinforce his delusions and that he trusts it more than anything she says. She said this has left her feeling anxious and defeated. The account is hers alone. LBC did not identify the son, and no chat logs, clinical records or statement from the son were inspected. The article includes a general statement from an OpenAI spokesperson about how ChatGPT responds in sensitive moments.
Core concern Medium reported severity Media Coverage
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 1 source · Added 15/10/2026
Event date unknownEvent location unknownUnited Airlines chatbot
NBC 5 Chicago reported on 16 September 2026 that a customer asked a United Airlines chatbot how long a $200 TravelBank travel credit would remain usable and was told it stayed active for five years from deposit, as a screenshot the customer provided shows. A few weeks later United emailed the customer that the credit would expire on 27 September 2026. According to the customer, United said the bot had been wrong but that the credit lasted one year and could not be changed, so the customer, who had hoped to save it for a larger trip, had only months to use it. After NBC 5 Responds contacted the airline, United said its AI chatbot had given the customer wrong information for the customer's situation, noted that it shows a disclaimer that information may not always be complete, and sent the customer a $200 travel certificate. The report does not say when the chatbot exchange took place.
Core concern Low reported severity Media Coverage
AI involvement supported · Causal attribution supported · 1 source · Added 12/10/2026
Event date unknownAustraliaUnidentified image tool
ABC News (2 October 2026) reports that WA District Court Judge Belinda Lonsdale sentenced a 41-year-old man to four and a half years in prison, with eligibility for parole after two and a half years, for creating child exploitation material with AI. He had pleaded guilty to 26 charges including indecent recording and producing, creating and possessing child exploitation material, and to five charges of possessing indecent or obscene articles, and was fined $2,500 for the offensive material charges. The judge said he was guilty of incorporating images of real victims and manipulating their images using AI tools, and that the claim that AI-generated material involved no actual abuse was not mitigating because images of real children were used; ABC reports he used AI to manipulate images of children from social media. He sent sexual material through encrypted messaging apps to two co-accused and to a covert police operative, and a police raid on his Wanneroo home found a large amount of child exploitation material. The children are not identified and their number is not reported.
Core concern High reported severity Involving minors Criminal Charges
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution supported · 1 source · Added 02/10/2026
Event date unknownEvent location unknownUnidentified video tool
Dr. François Marquis, chief of intensive care at Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital in Montreal, told CBC News (August 2025) and CTV News and CBC News (September 2026) that AI-generated deepfake videos using his likeness keep appearing on Facebook, selling joint supplements, pills and cancer cures and spreading anti-pharmaceutical claims; the latest offers $1 million to dissatisfied customers. He is not on social media and learns of the videos from people who call him. He recounts that a person who paid hundreds of dollars for pills advertised in one of the videos, and never received them, came into the ICU demanding his money back, which he describes as a security problem for the hospital. He has reported the deepfakes to Quebec's College of Physicians, Montreal police and the platforms, but says new videos keep appearing. The makers of the ads are not identified.
Core concern Low reported severity Media Coverage
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 3 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 01/10/2026
Event date unknownAustraliaUnidentified voice-cloning tool
Victoria Police warned, in reports published on 1 October 2026 local time, that fraudsters targeting the state's Mandarin-speaking community are using artificial intelligence to clone the voices of doctors, general practitioners and surgeons, calling victims by their real names and telling them to buy gift cards and text the codes (ABC News, Yahoo News Australia). Police received ten reports in September. In one case, NewsWire reports, the scammer copied the voice of a medical professional the victim knew, and the victim bought $50,000 in gift cards over three days before calling the real practice. In another, a caller posing as a medical professional exploited the victim's urgent health conditions and pressured them until their cash was depleted, a loss of $40,000; police do not say whether that call used a cloned voice. No victim is identified.
Core concern Medium reported severity Media Coverage
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 3 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 01/10/2026
Event date unknownEvent location unknownUnidentified image and video tool
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
Event date unknownAustraliaUnidentified image tool
ABC News reports that digitally altered sexual images using the faces of girls from a Sydney high school circulated online. Families went to police, who confirmed an investigation, while the school and education department said they were working with police. A follow-up report says the eSafety Commissioner was also in talks with investigators. The school is not identified, and the number of affected students, creation date and later inquiry outcome are unknown.
Core concern Medium reported severity Involving minors
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 2 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 30/09/2026
Event date unknownUnited StatesUnidentified voice-cloning tool
A Chicago-area man told ABC7 that he sent $10,000 in cryptocurrency to someone posing as Elon Musk. The outlet reports that the scammer used AI-assembled voice messages using Musk's voice, alongside social media messages, apparent investment returns and a promised vehicle. The man said he could not retrieve the money after several months and was struggling to pay ordinary bills. The beginning of the contact and the technical creation of the messages remain unknown.
Core concern Medium reported severity
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 1 source · Added 30/09/2026
Event date unknownAustraliaUnidentified image tool
Police in Tasmania received a report about alleged illegal online activity involving a group of students at a school in the south of the state, and on 19 March 2026 a local outlet reported that the incident may have involved AI-generated content. On 29 April 2026 the ABC reported, citing Tasmania Police, that girls at the school had their likenesses used to make AI-generated sexual images. Two parents told the ABC that police said 21 girls had been identified as victims, that the AI-altered photos were shared in a boys' group chat and that the images appeared to have been taken from social media. Five boys are alleged to have created the images and have left the school. Tasmania Police said no charges were laid and the five youths were dealt with under the Youth Justice Act. The parents said their daughters felt isolated and unsupported, and the school principal denied that families were advised to withhold information from their children. The creation date and the AI tool are not reported.
Core concern Medium reported severity Involving minors
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 4 sources, 2 underlying accounts · Added 30/09/2026
Event date unknownPeruUnidentified chatbot
BBC Travel reported on 29 September 2025 that a trek operator in a rural Peruvian town overheard two unaccompanied tourists planning to hike alone to the 'Sacred Canyon of Humantay'. The operator says the tourists showed the operator a screenshot of a confident, adjectival description, that no such canyon exists, and that one tourist paid nearly $160 to reach a rural road near Mollepata without a guide or a destination. The article implies an AI chatbot as the source of the description but does not name the tool used by these tourists, and gives no date.
Core concern Low reported severity
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 2 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 29/09/2026
Event date unknownAustraliaUnidentified image tool
ABC reported on 23 and 24 July 2026 that police in Queensland, Australia charged a former secondary school teacher at a school there with child exploitation and computer misuse offences. Police allege the teacher used AI software on a work-issued laptop to generate explicit images depicting staff members and students. Police say a nine-month investigation began in October after they were notified of the material, and the school says it dismissed the teacher in October 2025, notified police and regulators, and that there is no evidence the material was shared. The number of people depicted and the creation date are not stated.
Core concern Low reported severity
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 2 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 29/09/2026
Event date unknownUnited KingdomUnidentified image tool
BBC News and other outlets reported on 18 and 19 January 2026 that the Police Service of Northern Ireland opened an investigation after a report that AI-generated explicit images were shared among pupils at a County Armagh school. The principal wrote to parents that the school became aware on 8 January, believed it had identified all pupils whose images were manipulated and those allegedly responsible, and put the number targeted in the single figures. The principal described a particularly difficult time for the pupils depicted. The creation date, the AI tool and the outcome of the investigation are not reported.
Core concern Medium reported severity Involving minors
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 3 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 29/09/2026
Event date unknownUnited KingdomUnidentified video tool
On 7 September 2026 the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said a person in the Ards and North Down area had lost £250,000 in what it called a 'sophisticated and substantial' investment fraud. The victim first saw what appeared to be an AI-generated online video featuring a well-known personality from the financial sector promoting an investment with significant returns. After investing a small amount the victim was contacted on WhatsApp and encouraged to pay more, persuaded to open multiple online accounts, to allow the fraudsters remote access to a computer 'to assist with the investment', to borrow money to keep investing, and finally to make further payments to 'release' funds supposedly held in the investment. The PSNI did not name the personality; BBC News NI noted that fabricated endorsements of financial experts such as Martin Lewis, Peter Jones and Steven Bartlett circulate online.
Core concern High reported severity Investigation Opened
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution supported · 3 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 18/09/2026
Event date unknownEvent location unknownChatGPT
A 26-year-old woman from Western Australia, interviewed by ABC's triple j hack under the pseudonym Jodie, says she was using ChatGPT while in the early stages of psychosis and that it agreed with her delusions and affirmed harmful and false beliefs. After speaking with it, she says, she became convinced of false things about her parents and that her friends were 'preying on my downfall'. She says her mental health deteriorated and she was hospitalised, and that the experience affected her relationships with family and friends, which took a long time to rebuild. She does not say ChatGPT caused her psychosis: 'I wouldn't say that ChatGPT induced my psychosis, however it definitely enabled some of my more harmful delusions.' ABC did not report when the episode happened. OpenAI did not respond to ABC's request for comment.
Core concern High reported severity Media Coverage
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 2 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 13/01/2026