Scammers used AI-generated deepfake videos and fake photos of the President to impersonate her on social media platforms for cryptocurrency investment scams.
The Office of the President (OPR) issued a warning about scammers using deepfake videos and fake photos of President Myriam Spiteri Debono to create fraudulent social media profiles on Facebook, X and Instagram. These AI-generated materials were being used to impersonate the President and attract people to fake financial investments, primarily in cryptocurrency. The deepfakes are described as images, videos, or audio which are edited or generated using artificial intelligence tools, and which may depict real or non-existent people. The OPR immediately reported the fraudulent pages to relevant authorities and urged the public to remain vigilant to avoid falling victim to these scams. The office highlighted three official pages belonging to the President and noted that scam websites and social media profiles impersonating public figures and news portals appear to be growing in numbers. The report does not specify how many people were affected or the scale of financial losses from these scams.
Domain classification, causal taxonomy, severity scores, and national security assessments were LLM-classified and may contain errors.
Using AI systems to gain a personal advantage over others such as through cheating, fraud, scams, blackmail or targeted manipulation of beliefs or behavior. Examples include AI-facilitated plagiarism for research or education, impersonating a trusted or fake individual for illegitimate financial benefit, or creating humiliating or sexual imagery.
Human
Due to a decision or action made by humans
Intentional
Due to an expected outcome from pursuing a goal
Post-deployment
Occurring after the AI model has been trained and deployed
No population impact data reported.