Description: Purported AI-generated deepfake videos depicting Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and other officials, political leaders, and business leaders have reportedly been used to promote fraudulent investment schemes. A total of 13,956 cases were reported last year, with RM2.11 billion allegedly lost to these scams. Victims were allegedly misled by hyper-realistic fake endorsements circulated via Facebook, WhatsApp, and Telegram. Scammers allegedly adapt quickly, generating new deepfakes when content is removed.
Editor Notes: This incident ID refers to a report described 07/04/2025 by the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA)'s Public Services and Complaints Department head, Datuk Seri Michael Chong, regarding the alleged widespread use of AI-generated deepfake videos to impersonate Malaysian public figures in fraudulent investment schemes. See also Incident 1116: Alleged Deepfake Video Depicts Former Malaysian Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Acryl Sani Abdullah in Financial Misconduct Context.
Entities
View all entitiesAlleged: Unknown voice cloning technology developers and Unknown deepfake technology developers developed an AI system deployed by Unknown scammers targeting Malaysian public figures , Unknown scammers and Unknown fraudsters, which harmed Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat , Tan Sri Tony Fernandes , Tan Sri Robert Kuok , Malaysian public figures , Malaysian political leaders , Malaysian business leaders , General public of Malaysia , Epistemic integrity and Anwar Ibrahim.
Alleged implicated AI systems: WhatsApp , Unknown voice cloning technology , Unknown deepfake technology , Telegram , Social media and Facebook
Incident Stats
Incident ID
1136
Report Count
2
Incident Date
2025-07-04
Editors
Daniel Atherton
Incident Reports
Reports Timeline
KUALA LUMPUR: Scammers are using artificial intelligence (AI) to create hyper-realistic videos featuring politicians, business moguls, and celebrities.
These videos are used to lure unsuspecting people into fraudulent investment schemes.
MC…
PETALING JAYA: With the faces of popular figures appearing in deepfake videos promoting investment scams, a former state assemblyman has deliberately stepped into the trap to expose the syndicate’s tactics.
Former Pasir Pinji assemblyman Da…
Variants
A "variant" is an AI incident similar to a known case—it has the same causes, harms, and AI system. Instead of listing it separately, we group it under the first reported incident. Unlike other incidents, variants do not need to have been reported outside the AIID. Learn more from the research paper.
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