DeepfakeHigh
Deepfake Cryptocurrency Scam Allegedly Impersonates Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni
- Occurred
- Dec 12, 2024
- Published
- Dec 12, 2024
- Source
- AI Incident Database
Summary
A deepfake scam allegedly impersonating Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni circulated on various platforms. It reportedly promoted a fraudulent cryptocurrency investment scheme. The deepfakes claimed the scheme was state-backed, promising €40,000 in guaranteed income. Victims were urged to invest €250, only to lose access to funds. Italy’s Consob blocked the deceptive ads and websites, marking the first enforcement of new financial fraud regulations.
Developers
- Deepfake technology developers
Deployers
- Unknown scammers impersonating Sergio Mattarella and Giorgia Meloni
- Scammers
Harmed parties
- Sergio Mattarella
- Giorgia Meloni
- General public of Italy
Tags
- Deepfake fraud
- Financial fraud
- Scam
- Cryptocurrency scam
- Italy
- Consob
- Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa
Classification
Category confidence: 95%
Severity confidence: 90%
Rationale: Deepfake technology used to impersonate political leaders for financial fraud, triggering regulatory enforcement.
Classifier: Qwen/Qwen3.5-35B-A3B-FP8