Scammers created AI-generated deepfake videos of Croatian infectious disease clinic director Alemka Markotic and TV host Zoran Sprajc to promote fraudulent joint pain treatments through fake news reports.
On October 17, 2024, scammers published a deepfake video on Facebook that appeared to show RTL's political satire show 'Stanje nacije' with host Zoran Sprajc reporting the false murder of Dr. Alemka Markotic, director of the Fran Mihaljevic Clinic for Infectious Diseases in Croatia. The AI-generated video featured synthetic versions of both Sprajc and Markotic promoting a fraudulent joint pain treatment called 'Hondrosol.' The deepfake technology was sophisticated enough to synchronize lip movements with spoken words, though careful analysis revealed unnatural mouth movements and tonal inconsistencies. The video included a fake news ticker claiming Markotic was 'killed at the entrance to her home' and directed viewers to a fraudulent website designed to mimic the Croatian Ministry of Health. The fake website contained grammatically incorrect text suggesting AI translation and attempted to create urgency by claiming limited product availability and government subsidies. This incident represents part of an ongoing pattern of deepfake fraud targeting Croatian medical professionals, with Faktograf having previously reported multiple similar cases involving fabricated interviews with doctors promoting dubious medical products.
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.
AI system
Due to a decision or action made by an AI system
Intentional
Due to an expected outcome from pursuing a goal
Post-deployment
Occurring after the AI model has been trained and deployed
