Description: The New Zealand Financial Markets Authority (FMA), Te Mana Tātai Hokohoko, reportedly warned of a global AI-enabled "pump-and-dump" scam that used purported deepfake videos of prominent New Zealand business leaders in Facebook and Instagram ads to lure investors into fake WhatsApp investment groups. Victims were allegedly urged to buy low-value foreign shares to inflate prices, then defrauded through a follow-on "recovery" scam.
Editor Notes: Reconstructing the reported timeline of events: (1) 08/19/2025, FMA reportedly issued its first warning about deepfake investment impersonations. (2) In the following weeks, new complaints reportedly showed the scam evolving into a global pump-and-dump network using WhatsApp investment groups. (3) 10/06/2026, during World Investor Week, FMA reportedly issued an updated warning confirming use of AI-generated deepfakes in the scheme.
Entities
View all entitiesAlleged: Unknown voice cloning technology developer and Unknown deepfake technology developer developed an AI system deployed by Unknown scammers impersonating New Zealand business leaders , Unknown scammers and Unknown fraudsters, which harmed Investors , Impersonated New Zealand business leaders , General public of New Zealand and General public.
Alleged implicated AI systems: WhatsApp , Unknown voice cloning technology , Unknown deepfake technology , Trading platforms , Social media , Instagram and Facebook
Incident Stats
Incident ID
1227
Report Count
2
Incident Date
2025-08-19
Editors
Daniel Atherton
Incident Reports
Reports Timeline
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Kiwi investors are being caught by a new "pump and dump" scam, says the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) -- Te Mana Tātai Hokohoko.
FMA Director of Markets, Investors and Reporting, John Horner says: "As we start World Investor Week, aim…
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Media Release
MR No. 2025 -- 41
Kiwi investors are being caught by a new "pump and dump" scam, says the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) -- Te Mana Tātai Hokohoko.
FMA Director of Markets, Investors and Reporting, John Horner says: "As w…
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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