Description: Purported deepfake videos and images impersonating Montenegrin MP and surgeon Vladimir Dobričanin and other public figures were reportedly used in Facebook and Instagram ads to promote fraudulent health products and investment schemes in Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The impersonations allegedly directed users to scam websites linked to firms such as Digital Edge and Nearest Edge, reportedly causing harm while evading timely platform enforcement.
Editor Notes: Timeline note: Between 2021 and 2025, firms reportedly linked to Digital Edge and Nearest Edge were allegedly associated with the purported use of fake and later AI-generated endorsements of public figures in Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina to promote fraudulent health and investment products, with deepfake impersonations purportedly depicting MP Vladimir Dobričanin reportedly circulating on Facebook and Instagram in 2025 before BIRN documented the activity on 12/24/2025 (the date chosen for this incident ID). The incident ID was created 01/10/2026.
Entities
View all entitiesAlleged: Image generator developers , Deepfake technology developers and Synthetic audio generation technology developers developed an AI system deployed by Scammers impersonating Montenegrin public figures , Scammers impersonating Bosnian public figures , Nearest Edge , Limited Charm , Digital Edge and Scammers, which harmed Vladimir Dobričanin , Petar Ivanović , People seeking medical advice , General public of Montenegro , General public of Bosnia and Herzegovina , General public , Epistemic integrity , Elderly individuals and Dražen Živković.
Alleged implicated AI systems: Social media platforms , Instagram , Facebook , Image generation technology , 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
AI
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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ladimir Dobricanin was first alerted to the scam when an elderly woman asked him where she could buy the eyedrops he had apparently endorsed.
A well-known surgeon and MP, Dobricanin went online and found a video of himself, "very crudely" m…
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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