Oct 2026IndiaUnidentified image and video tool
Police in Jaipur, Rajasthan, say a software engineer who went missing on 26 October 2026 staged his own kidnapping and sent relatives fabricated photos and videos, which police and the man's own account describe as AI-generated, showing him held captive, in pain and admitted to a hospital. Bhaskar English reports that he demanded a ransom of 7 lakh rupees from the family. His brother-in-law filed a kidnapping complaint, police searched several cities using CCTV footage, and on 30 October officers found him in Rishikesh. Police say he confessed and had borrowed money from friends that he could not repay. The Hindi daily Amar Ujala, which describes him as an IT student, reports that the family panicked at the messages before informing police, and that officers brought him back to Jaipur and handed him over to his family. No payment by the family and no charge are reported.
Core concern Low reported severity Investigation Opened
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution supported · 3 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 01/11/2026
14 Oct 2026BrazilUnidentified image tool
A 12-year-old girl in Vitória da Conquista, in the south-west of Bahia, Brazil, was threatened from 14 October 2026 by a 15-year-old who said he had intimate images of her and demanded money not to post them on social media. Frightened, she secretly took R$8,300 from money her father kept and handed it over; the suspect then demanded a further R$10,000. According to the Bahia Civil Police, its investigation found that the image used in the threats had been produced with artificial intelligence to simulate intimate content of the girl. On 23 October police identified the 15-year-old and three other adolescents aged 14 to 16 as suspects, recovered R$6,300 and an electric bicycle bought with part of the money, and returned the money to her father. The police opened a juvenile offence procedure and sent it to the Childhood and Youth Court. How police established that the image was AI-made is not disclosed.
Core concern High reported severity Involving minors Investigation Opened
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution supported · 3 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 28/10/2026
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 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
Event date unknownEvent location unknownUnidentified image tool
The Westpfalz police headquarters reported on 3 June 2026, in a release datelined Kaiserslautern, that a woman had been extorted with an AI-generated nude photo. According to the police's current findings, a man edited a picture of her with artificial intelligence; through a messaging service he demanded a mid four-figure sum and threatened to publish the photo. She went to the police on Tuesday 2 June and an investigation was opened.
Core concern Medium reported severity Investigation Opened
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 1 source · Added 20/10/2026
Event date unknownEvent location unknownUnidentified video tool
Mainz police reported on 23 July 2026 that a man who had met a supposed woman on an online platform refused repeated demands to send money as gift or payment cards. He then received a video that, according to the police, was evidently created with artificial intelligence: a fake news broadcast that used a picture of his face to warn about him. The sender threatened to publish the video and to report him to the police for an alleged fraud unless he paid. The man did not pay and filed a complaint; the police say no financial loss occurred and, as far as known, the video was not published. Hit Radio FFH, citing a police spokeswoman, reports that the broadcast warned women that he was a fraudster.
Core concern Low reported severity Investigation Opened
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 3 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 19/10/2026
17 Jul 2026United StatesUnidentified voice-cloning tool
The Boone County Sheriff's Office in Missouri said that on Friday 17 July 2026 a resident received a call whose caller ID showed their daughter's number. A voice that sounded like the daughter said she had been kidnapped at gunpoint, and another voice then demanded ransom. The office said it later determined that the voice was AI-generated, without saying how. Deputies found the daughter safe in Jefferson City and unaware of the call. The office called it the first AI voice-impersonation call it had encountered. No suspect had been identified by 19 July, and no source reports whether any money was paid.
Core concern Low reported severity Investigation Opened
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution supported · 3 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 15/10/2026
27 Sept 2026 to 29 Sept 2026IndiaUnidentified video tool
Deccan Herald reports, citing Bengaluru police, that a 23-year-old man lost Rs 1.85 lakh in an alleged sextortion scam. He matched with a woman on a dating app on 27 September 2026 and exchanged numbers; he told police that he then received a WhatsApp video call from her number lasting five to six seconds. Police said he then received an obscene video manipulated using AI and the sender threatened to circulate it unless he paid. Fearing exposure, he borrowed money from a friend and transferred Rs 1.85 lakh to several UPI IDs between 27 and 29 September as the threats continued, a police officer said. Police registered a first information report on his online cybercrime complaint and are trying to trace the suspects. The report does not say how police established that the video was AI-manipulated, and the tool is not named.
Core concern Medium reported severity Investigation Opened
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 1 source · Added 12/10/2026
2 Feb 2026 to 4 Feb 2026IndiaUnidentified video tool (suspected)
In February 2026 a 16-year-old boy in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, did not return home from a coaching class, and his family filed a missing-person complaint. While they searched, they received a video call from unknown people who claimed to be holding him; the call showed a boy appearing to be threatened with a knife and the callers demanded about Rs 1 lakh through a QR code. In fear, the parents transferred Rs 1.02 lakh. The boy was found safe within two days and said he knew nothing of any video call. Additional DCP (Crime) Rajesh Dandotia told reporters that the family was convinced because they saw what looked like their own child, that police have strong reasons to believe deepfake technology was used, and that the crime branch is investigating; The Indian Express reports that police believe it is the city's first known case of deepfake technology used for extortion. Accounts differ on where the boy had been. The AI involvement is recorded as suspected because no forensic finding is reported.
Core concern Medium reported severity Investigation Opened
AI involvement suspected · Causal attribution alleged · 3 sources · Added 11/10/2026
Dec 2025 to Oct 2026IndiaUnidentified image and video tool
Police in Rohtak district, Haryana, registered a case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and rape provisions, reported on 8 October 2026, after a 17-year-old girl from a village in the district told them that two men who delivered building material to her home had taken photographs of her, made obscene photographs and videos from them with AI, and used the threat of posting the material on social media to force her to meet them and rape her repeatedly, according to Dainik Bhaskar and Jagmarg News (both 8 October 2026). In the complainant's account relayed by the two outlets, the first assault followed an Instagram message in December 2025, further assaults took place in January and March 2026, and the most recent on 5 October 2026, after which she collapsed in a lane near her home and told her family, who called the police. The district Child Welfare Committee said she has been counselled. The police statement quoted by Dainik Bhaskar describes a complaint of forced sexual acts by two men and an investigation, without mentioning AI; the AI claim rests on the complainant's account as relayed by the outlets. No arrest is reported and the accused have not been heard.
Core concern High reported severity Involving minors Criminal Charges
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 2 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 09/10/2026
Event date unknownPakistanUnidentified image tool
Daily Pakistan reported on 6 October 2026 that Pakistan’s National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) raided an alleged illegal loan-recovery network in Lahore and arrested 39 people. Investigators allege that the network lent money through illegal loan applications, gained access to borrowers’ contacts and photo galleries through the apps, and, when repayments were delayed or more money was demanded, used artificial intelligence to manipulate borrowers’ photographs into fake obscene images. Victims were reportedly threatened with having the fabricated material sent to their family members and contacts unless they paid. The agency says a criminal case has been registered and that seized devices have been sent for forensic examination. The number of borrowers targeted is not reported, and the allegations have not been tested in court.
Core concern Medium reported severity Criminal Charges
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 1 source · Added 07/10/2026
Event date unknownIndonesiaUnidentified image tool
Kilas Garut News reported on 3 October 2026 that a young man from Karangpawitan in Garut Regency, West Java, was extorted by an unknown account that threatened to spread a fake nude photo made with AI. According to the report, the account demanded money to delete the photo and the young man, frightened, transferred Rp200,000; the account then asked for a second payment for permanent deletion. The young man told family members, who consulted a journalist of the outlet. The journalist is quoted as saying the photo was an AI paste-up and as advising the family to stop paying and block the account, which they did. No police report is mentioned. The account comes from the outlet and its own journalist, who helped the family.
Core concern Low reported severity Media Coverage
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 1 source · Added 05/10/2026
Oct 2026VietnamUnidentified image and video tool
Thanh Hóa provincial police said on 3 October 2026 that their cybersecurity and high-tech crime division had, since the start of October, received reports from nearly 20 people threatened with extortion using sexual images and videos spliced from their own photos, which senders threatened to publish unless money was transferred. One victim was asked for as much as 1.5 billion dong, and officials, including commune-level leaders, were among the targets. The police release says the material was made with technology; Báo Thanh Hóa, reporting information compiled from the same police division, says the senders used AI and deepfake technology to put victims' faces onto sexual images. No payment, arrest or named victim is reported.
Core concern Medium reported severity Investigation Opened
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 3 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 04/10/2026
Event date unknownIndiaUnidentified video tool
Shillong newspapers reported on 1 and 2 October 2026 that a video described as an AI-generated deepfake was circulating on social media, linking Meghalaya's Deputy Chief Minister in charge of Home (Police), Prestone Tynsong, and East Khasi Hills Superintendent of Police Vivek Syiem to allegations that police were illegally collecting money from trucks on a highway. Highland Post reported that the video shows the two laughing, drinking alcohol and surrounded by money, and that it appears to have been created with AI and is crudely made. Syiem called it a serious matter and said police would examine the video and decide on legal action after reviewing it; police describe it as fabricated. Posters targeting the two officials appeared in Shillong the next day. Who made the video is unknown and no complaint or arrest is reported.
Core concern Low reported severity Media Coverage
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 4 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 03/10/2026
13 Jan 2026IndiaUnidentified image tool
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
10 Sept 2026India, CanadaUnidentified video tool
Ghaziabad crime branch police announced on 2 October 2026 that they had arrested four members of a sextortion and cyber-fraud gang. According to the police account relayed by the Times of India, Aaj Tak, Navbharat Times and ETV Bharat, the gang contacted a non-resident Indian living in Brampton, Canada, through Facebook Messenger from a fake profile in a woman's name, recorded the person on a video call on 10 September 2026, then demanded $50,000 and threatened to upload the footage and AI-made obscene videos if the money was not paid. The victim was given a bank account in Ghaziabad and reported the extortion to the city's cybercrime team on 17 September. Police registered an FIR under the BNS and the IT Act, said the phone number was linked to 40 cyber-fraud complaints on the national portal and said AI sextortion videos were found on the accused's phones. Police said the gang had operated since 2023; other members were absconding. The account is the police's; the videos were not inspected, and the reports disagree on the victim's gender.
Core concern Medium reported severity Criminal Charges
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 4 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 03/10/2026
Event date unknownIndiaUnidentified image and video tool
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 unknownEvent location unknownUnidentified video tool
A Newswav creator article relays a mother's account that her teenage son received his photograph and a purported AI-generated sexual video through Telegram, followed by a demand for RM5,800. The mother said the family sought police help and that the boy asked a school contact for advice. The article attributes the AI explanation to the family's account and reported police comments. No payment, precise event location or independently verified generation method is established.
Core concern Medium reported severity Involving minors
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 1 source · Added 30/09/2026
Event date unknownUnited StatesUnidentified image tool
KWCH (Wichita, Kansas) reported on 10 March 2026 that a Wichita resident received a message from an unknown number containing nude images that the station and the resident described as AI-generated fakes, together with screenshots of the resident's Facebook profile, friend list and family, and a threat to send the images to those people unless money was paid. The resident said the images could ruin relationships and career if they reached family or an employer, filed a police report and said no more messages arrived after blocking the numbers. KWCH reported that the Wichita Police Department said it had not seen a situation like this before. The account rests on one KWCH article built on the resident's own statements. The images were not independently examined, the sum demanded and whether any payment was made are not stated, and the date the message arrived is not stated.
Core concern Low reported severity
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 1 source · Added 30/09/2026
Event date unknownUnited StatesUnidentified image and video tool
On 24 July 2026 WBRZ, WAFB and the Livingston Parish News relayed a Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office (Louisiana) statement about an investigation into threats made by phone and online. The sheriff's office said one alleged victim was threatened with rape and other bodily harm unless money was paid, AI-generated photos and videos of one of the victims were sent to numerous family members and friends, and later threats included getting one victim fired. Homeland Security assisted after allegations that overseas suspects were involved through past relationships and acquaintances in Greece. The sheriff's office said subpoenas and search returns from platforms led back to a woman who had first been treated as a victim, and that after an interview with the woman the sheriff's office learned the woman made all of the fictitious accounts, the AI-generated nude photos and videos, the rape threats and the extortion attempts. The accused was booked on charges that include unlawful dissemination of AI nude photos, online impersonation and five counts of extortion, and was released on bond. The Livingston Parish News says the accused and one other person had reported as victims some or all of what the sheriff's office attributes to the accused. The charges are allegations and no conviction is reported. The AI tool is not identified, the victims are not described and the start date of the threats is not stated.
Core concern Medium reported severity
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 3 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 30/09/2026