Jul 2026Event location unknownUnidentified video tool
Hirosaki police in Aomori Prefecture, Japan, announced on 8 October 2026 that a man in his 40s living in the prefecture had been defrauded of ¥720,000 through a video, generated with artificial intelligence, of a real celebrity recommending investment, as reported by the Too Nippo newspaper. According to the police account, in about mid-July he followed a TikTok investment advertisement that impersonated a celebrity into LINE and Signal groups, made an initial profit on recommended shares, and then, at the suggestion of a LINE account, installed an investment app and transferred ¥720,000 from a convenience-store ATM to a designated account. When the app bought shares beyond his holdings and demanded the shortfall, he asked an AI, which pointed out that it might be fraud, and he realised he had been deceived. The celebrity and the tool used to make the video are not named.
Core concern Medium reported severity
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 2 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 11/10/2026
Apr 2026NigeriaUnidentified video tool
Premium Times reported on 8 October 2026 that deepfake videos of Nigerian public figures were used in sponsored Facebook posts to promote fraudulent investment schemes. According to the report, a sponsored video on the page Nigeria Daily Report in mid-April 2026 showed a figure of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan telling viewers they could invest a one-off N430,000 to earn N14 million monthly; the senator did not make the video and had disclaimed any endorsement of investment platforms. In May 2026 a deepfake video of presidential candidate Peter Obi on the page Nigeria Daily Bulletin asked users to invest N350,000 to earn N4.5 million, linking to a website that cloned Channels Television. Another video cloned the voice of WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to promote a scheme, and she warned on X against videos using AI and deepfakes to impersonate her. The newspaper reports that Meta confirmed the ads and videos violated its policy, that the posts stayed on the platform for months, and that they were removed in July 2026, one of them in the first week of July, after the newspaper contacted Meta. No deceived investor is identified, the tool and the creators are not identified, and the deepfake descriptions are the newspaper's and the depicted people's.
Core concern Low reported severity Media Coverage
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 1 source · Added 09/10/2026
2026Event location unknownUnidentified image and video tool
Maldita.es reported on 1 October 2026 that it found at least 20 paid ads on X, circulated on 24 and 25 September 2026, that used AI-generated images to show the economist Gonzalo Bernardos in invented scenes, among them police searching the economist's home. The ads were seen more than 400,000 times and, depending on the device, led to pages imitating El Mundo that said Bernardos had been arrested and promoted Norden Core, a platform not authorised by the CNMV. Marca reported that Bernardos warned on X on 23 July 2026 that individuals were using the economist's image in fake ads made with AI or other tools. El Caso reported on 4 October 2026 that Bernardos said on X that many people were asking about a video advertising a supposed investment, that the video was made with AI and that Bernardos had never made such promotions. No source reports a person who lost money or a complaint to the police.
Core concern Low reported severity Media Coverage
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution supported · 3 sources, 2 underlying accounts · Added 05/10/2026
Aug 2026Event location unknownUnidentified OpenAI and Google image tools (reported)
From August 2026, posts on X linked to a fake page imitating the newspaper O Globo, and a Facebook version repeated the story. The page reported an attack on businessman Luciano Hang, founder of the Havan stores, and directed readers to a supposed investment platform promising R$3,000 to R$10,000 a day. The fact-checkers Lupa and Comprova found that no attack happened. Lupa reports that an OpenAI verification tool found a watermark indicating OpenAI image generation in the montage on the page; Comprova reports that SynthID indicated that the images it analysed, showing Hang injured, were made with Google's AI tool. Hang said in a note that criminals use his image, including AI manipulations, to promote fake investments. São Paulo's regional electoral court ordered X to remove posts falsely linking candidate Fernando Haddad to the fake attack. No investor loss is reported.
Core concern Low reported severity Media Coverage
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution supported · 6 sources, 3 underlying accounts · Added 02/10/2026