Skip to Content
logologo
AI Incident Database
Open TwitterOpen RSS FeedOpen FacebookOpen LinkedInOpen GitHub
Open Menu
Discover
Submit
  • Welcome to the AIID
  • Discover Incidents
  • Spatial View
  • Table View
  • List view
  • Entities
  • Taxonomies
  • Submit Incident Reports
  • Submission Leaderboard
  • Blog
  • AI News Digest
  • Risk Checklists
  • Random Incident
  • Sign Up
Collapse
Discover
Submit
  • Welcome to the AIID
  • Discover Incidents
  • Spatial View
  • Table View
  • List view
  • Entities
  • Taxonomies
  • Submit Incident Reports
  • Submission Leaderboard
  • Blog
  • AI News Digest
  • Risk Checklists
  • Random Incident
  • Sign Up
Collapse

Incident 1017: Alleged Deepfake Investment Scam in Spain Defrauds 208 Victims of €19 million ($20.9 million)

Description: Spanish police arrested six individuals allegedly behind a €19M ($20.9M) global investment scam powered by AI. The operation used deepfake ads featuring national celebrities to deceive victims, many of whom were selected through targeting algorithms. Scammers posed as financial advisors and fake officials, cycling through romance baiting, investment fraud, and recovery scams. AI-generated content amplified trust and engagement.
Editor Notes: The incident date of 04/07/2025 is taken from the date of the arrests. The scams had been ongoing for at least two years, according to reports.

Tools

New ReportNew ReportNew ResponseNew ResponseDiscoverDiscoverView HistoryView History

Entities

View all entities
Alleged: Unknown deepfake technology developers and Unknown generative AI developers developed an AI system deployed by Unnamed criminal group in Spain and Individuals arrested in Granada and Alicante, which harmed General public , General public of Spain , Global victims targeted by scams and Individuals who lost money through scam investment platforms.
Alleged implicated AI systems: AI-generated deepfake video systems , Algorithmic targeting tools , Fake investment platforms , Identity spoofing and impersonation tools and Unknown deepfake apps

Incident Stats

Incident ID
1017
Report Count
2
Incident Date
2025-04-07
Editors
Daniel Atherton

Incident Reports

Reports Timeline

+1
Six arrested for AI-powered investment scams that stole $20 million
Next-Gen AI Scam Clones Broker Exante, Opens JPMorgan Account to Dupe U.S. Victim
Six arrested for AI-powered investment scams that stole $20 million

Six arrested for AI-powered investment scams that stole $20 million

bleepingcomputer.com

Next-Gen AI Scam Clones Broker Exante, Opens JPMorgan Account to Dupe U.S. Victim

Next-Gen AI Scam Clones Broker Exante, Opens JPMorgan Account to Dupe U.S. Victim

financemagnates.com

Six arrested for AI-powered investment scams that stole $20 million
bleepingcomputer.com · 2025

Spain's police arrested six individuals behind a large-scale cryptocurrency investment scam that used AI tools to generate deepfake ads featuring popular public figures to lure people.

The scam was very successful, defrauding 19 million Eur…

Next-Gen AI Scam Clones Broker Exante, Opens JPMorgan Account to Dupe U.S. Victim
financemagnates.com · 2025
  • "Regular" clones are so 2023: With AI-generated passports, deepfakes and websites, fraudsters are running sophisticated, large-scale, ultra-realistic scams.
  • "It's a speed game", said Exante's Head of Compliance, "You need AI tools to copy …

Variants

A "variant" is an incident that shares the same causative factors, produces similar harms, and involves the same intelligent systems as a known AI incident. Rather than index variants as entirely separate incidents, we list variations of incidents under the first similar incident submitted to the database. Unlike other submission types to the incident database, variants are not required to have reporting in evidence external to the Incident Database. Learn more from the research paper.

Similar Incidents

By textual similarity

Did our AI mess up? Flag the unrelated incidents

Defamation via AutoComplete

Defamation via AutoComplete

Apr 2011 · 28 reports
Facial Recognition Trial Performed Poorly at Notting Hill Carnival

Facial Recognition Trial Performed Poorly at Notting Hill Carnival

Aug 2017 · 4 reports
The DAO Hack

The DAO Hack

Jun 2016 · 24 reports
Previous IncidentNext Incident

Similar Incidents

By textual similarity

Did our AI mess up? Flag the unrelated incidents

Defamation via AutoComplete

Defamation via AutoComplete

Apr 2011 · 28 reports
Facial Recognition Trial Performed Poorly at Notting Hill Carnival

Facial Recognition Trial Performed Poorly at Notting Hill Carnival

Aug 2017 · 4 reports
The DAO Hack

The DAO Hack

Jun 2016 · 24 reports

Research

  • Defining an “AI Incident”
  • Defining an “AI Incident Response”
  • Database Roadmap
  • Related Work
  • Download Complete Database

Project and Community

  • About
  • Contact and Follow
  • Apps and Summaries
  • Editor’s Guide

Incidents

  • All Incidents in List Form
  • Flagged Incidents
  • Submission Queue
  • Classifications View
  • Taxonomies

2024 - AI Incident Database

  • Terms of use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Open twitterOpen githubOpen rssOpen facebookOpen linkedin
  • 1420c8e