Description: Authorities in Vietnam arrested three South Korean men alleged to have used purported deepfake identities in a cross-border romance scam scheme. Victims were reportedly deceived into travel and coerced into moving to Cambodia, where they reportedly were forced into performing scam operations after their passports were taken. The network allegedly obtained about USD $1 million in 2024 before the suspects fled Cambodia and were arrested in Da Nang on October 28, 2025.
Editor Notes: Timeline notes: Reported period of ongoing harm was 08/01/2024 through 12/31/2024 (alleged fraud and trafficking); (1) Cambodia operations allegedly ongoing through 2024; (2) Suspects reportedly fled Cambodia around 10/15/2025; (3) Arrest in Đà Nẵng in Vietnam on 10/28/2025; (1) News reports emerged in early December 2025. This incident ID was created on 12/06/2025.
Entities
View all entitiesAlleged: Deepfake technology developers and Synthetic audio generation technology developers developed an AI system deployed by Choi Minsu , Choi Jinwoo and Seo Jaeseok, which harmed General public , Victims of romance scams , Trafficking victims coerced into scam operations and Epistemic integrity.
Alleged implicated AI systems: Deepfake technology and Synthetic audio generation technology
Incident Stats
Risk Subdomain
A further 23 subdomains create an accessible and understandable classification of hazards and harms associated with AI
4.3. Fraud, scams, and targeted manipulation
Risk Domain
The Domain Taxonomy of AI Risks classifies risks into seven AI risk domains: (1) Discrimination & toxicity, (2) Privacy & security, (3) Misinformation, (4) Malicious actors & misuse, (5) Human-computer interaction, (6) Socioeconomic & environmental harms, and (7) AI system safety, failures & limitations.
- Malicious Actors & Misuse
Entity
Which, if any, entity is presented as the main cause of the risk
Human
Timing
The stage in the AI lifecycle at which the risk is presented as occurring
Post-deployment
Intent
Whether the risk is presented as occurring as an expected or unexpected outcome from pursuing a goal
Intentional
Incident Reports
Reports Timeline
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ĐÀ NẴNG --- Police in central Việt Nam have arrested three nationals from the Republic of Korea who are accused of running a cross-border romance-scam network that used deepfake technology and allegedly trafficked victims into forced online…
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DANANG, (Vietnam): Police in central Vietnam have arrested three nationals from the Republic of Korea who are accused of running a cross-border romance-scam network that used deepfake technology and allegedly trafficked victims into forced …
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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