South Korean police say a foreign parent was sent a deepfake video of a daughter travelling in Korea crying for help while held captive, with a ransom demand
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.
AI involvement supported · Causal attribution supported · 2 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 22/10/2026