AI-generated deepfake videos mimicking Lithuanian news programs were used by international scammers to promote fake medical products and spread anti-vaccine disinformation across multiple European countries, reaching hundreds of thousands of viewers.
A series of highly convincing deepfake videos circulated online in Lithuania, created using artificial intelligence to mimic familiar Lithuanian television news programs. The fraudulent videos featured fabricated interviews with journalists, politicians, and doctors, including a deepfake of MEP and former Health Minister Aurelijus Veryga promoting an eye health product and doctor Vytautas Kasiulevičius falsely claiming vaccines harm health while promoting medicinal products. The deepfakes were created using publicly available footage from social networks and were disseminated via Facebook across 14-15 EU countries. According to Viktoras Daukšas from fact-checking initiative Debunk.org, researchers identified 20 videos that have since been blocked. The campaign was described as the highest quality deepfakes detected in Lithuania, with errors only visible in grammatical cases and stress patterns. The scammers used sensational headlines about vaccine harm to attract attention, with anti-vaccine activists spreading the scam links designed to steal money. The fraudulent content was viewed by hundreds of thousands of people across the European Union. The perpetrators operate from countries like Russia and Ukraine, making investigation difficult for Lithuanian authorities. Money from Lithuanian accounts was quickly transferred to foreign banks, making it very difficult to stop or block such funds.
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