May 2026SingaporeDeepfake AI video and audio fabricating Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Minister Indranee Rajah and other officials in a Zoom conference (tools not identified)
In May 2026 the Singapore Police Force (SPF) reported that a man had lost at least S$4.9 million (about US$3.8 million) to a government-official impersonation scam. He received a WhatsApp message carrying the profile photo of Secretary to the Cabinet Wong Hong Kuan and an email from a proton.me address in that name, requesting urgent funding assistance for 'the situation in the Strait of Hormuz', with a fake 'letter of guarantee' bearing the Prime Minister's signature promising reimbursement within 15 business days; he signed a non-disclosure agreement and supplied a copy of his identity card. He was then invited to a Zoom video conference in which Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Minister Indranee Rajah, Monetary Authority of Singapore representatives and foreign officials appeared; all were fabricated with deepfake AI, and the closing 'remarks' by the fake Prime Minister acknowledged the victim's attendance. Contacted afterwards on WhatsApp by a scammer posing as a lawyer, he transferred the money in a series of transactions to a corporate bank account, and realised the fraud only when he contacted the real cabinet secretary. On 16 May the police released footage of the fake conference, noting lips out of sync with speech, audio broadcast from a single account and a distorted background.
Core concern News report AI involvement: supported Causal attribution: supported High reported severity Investigation Opened
Added 18/09/2026
Sept 2026IndiaAI deepfake video and synthetic Hindi voice-over of Chief Minister Vijay (tools not named)
In 2026 AI-generated videos showing a simulated Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay speaking in a fabricated Hindi voice circulated on Facebook and other platforms, urging viewers to contact a WhatsApp number to receive money for education, medical treatment and other needs. The Tamil Nadu Crime Branch-CID detected the videos during routine monitoring, registered a case on 1 September 2026 under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act, and traced the scheme to Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. On 12 September a 28-year-old man from Alwar district was arrested with Rajasthan Police, brought to Tamil Nadu on a transit warrant and remanded in judicial custody; a phone, SIM cards and a CPU were seized. Investigators traced a man in Madhya Pradesh who had lost money, and said people in several states were cheated. The CB-CID is also examining similar videos posted from Facebook accounts suspected to be run from Pakistan.
Core concern News report AI involvement: reported Causal attribution: supported Medium reported severity Criminal Charges
Added 18/09/2026
Event date unknownUnited KingdomAI-generated video impersonating a well-known financial personality (tool not identified; personality not named by police)
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 News report AI involvement: reported Causal attribution: supported High reported severity Investigation Opened
Added 18/09/2026
25 Oct 2025IndiaAI deepfake/nudify tools (unspecified)
On 25 October 2025, a 19-year-old second-year BCom student at DAV College, Faridabad (Haryana), consumed sulphas tablets in his room in Baselwa Colony, Old Faridabad, and died during hospital treatment. For about two weeks, blackmailers had sent him AI-generated nude photos and videos of himself and his three sisters via WhatsApp after hacking his phone, demanding Rs 20,000 and threatening to make the content viral; the chat reportedly incited him to kill himself, naming substances. Police registered an FIR on 26 October 2025 at the Faridabad Old police station under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and sent his phone for forensic examination. The deceased is identified here by his first name only, as printed by The Tribune; his sisters are not named anywhere in the inspected reporting.
Core concern News reportNews aggregation AI involvement: supported Causal attribution: supported Critical reported severity Criminal Charges
Added 09/03/2026
Sept 2023SpainAI image 'undressing' applications (not named in the inspected court reporting)
In September 2023 families in Almendralejo (Badajoz, Spain) reported that artificial-intelligence 'undressing' applications had been used to create fake nude images of local girls aged 11 to 17 from their social-media photographs, and that the images circulated in WhatsApp groups. Police counted 22 victims and identified 10 suspects, all minors, within days. On 20 June 2024 the Badajoz juvenile court, in an agreed judgment, held 15 minors responsible for 20 counts of child pornography and 20 counts against moral integrity and imposed one year of supervised release with an education programme.
Core concern News reportNews report court outcomeNews agency report court outcomeNews agency reportIncident database aggregator AI involvement: supported Causal attribution: supported High reported severity Criminal Charges Involving minors
Added 29/01/2026