Incident 905: Scammers Allegedly Use Deepfake Technology to Pose as Leonor, Princess of Asturias, in Fraud Scheme

Description: Scammers have allegedly been using deepfake technology and fake social media accounts to reportedly impersonate Leonor, Princess of Asturias, targeting vulnerable individuals in Latin America. Victims were reportedly lured with promises of financial aid, requiring payments for "fees" or "taxes" before receiving funds, only to allegedly be defrauded repeatedly. TikTok accounts with thousands of followers reportedly amplified the scheme using AI to increase the appearance of credibility.

Editor Notes: Reconstructing the reported timeline of events: (1) Sometime in July 2024: Fraudulent TikTok accounts impersonating Princess Leonor reportedly become active. These accounts allegedly begin targeting vulnerable individuals, particularly in Latin America, with promises of financial aid in exchange for "small fees." (2) Sometime mid-2024: TikTok’s algorithms reportedly boost engagement with these accounts, helping them gain hundreds of thousands of followers and millions of views. (3) November 15, 2024: Victim Juana Cobo from Guatemala reportedly makes her final payment to the scammers, totaling 7,200 quetzales (approximately 880 euros). The scammers block her after receiving the payment. (4) December 3, 2024: El País reports the scam, having tracked and followed the modus operandi of the scammers over several weeks. Their investigation reports on the AI-generated videos and aggressive phishing tactics via TikTok and WhatsApp. (5) Early December 2024: TikTok España reportedly removes several fraudulent accounts following the El País report. However, many fake accounts reportedly remain active, some dating back to July 2024. (6) December 2024: El País contacts Casa Real (the Spanish Royal Household) for a statement. It is reported that Casa Real declines to comment but confirms they have no official presence on TikTok. Investigators reportedly identify the scammers’ accounts and payment systems as originating in the Dominican Republic. (7) Ongoing: The scam is reportedly continuing to target elderly and vulnerable individuals in Latin America, despite TikTok's partial crackdown.

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Entities

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Alleged: Unknown deepfake technology developer developed an AI system deployed by TikTok scammers , Scammers posing as Leonor (Princess of Asturias) and Fraudsters, which harmed Vulnerable people in Latin American countries , Juana Cobo and Financially distressed individuals.

Alleged implicated AI systems: WhatsApp , Unknown deepfake apps and TikTok

Incident Stats

Incident ID

905

Report Count

Incident Date

2024-07-01

Editors

Daniel Atherton

Incident Reports

Reports Timeline

Scammers impersonate Spain’s Princess Leonor on TikTok to deceive victims worldwide

english.elpais.com

Scam involving Princess Leonor Spain

euroweeklynews.com

We gave money to our beloved Princess Leonor. It was an AI scam

thetimes.com

english.elpais.com · 2024

Princess Leonor of Spain does not have an official TikTok account, yet dozens of accounts impersonating her have emerged, targeting victims globally --- especially in Latin America. These fraudulent profiles, some created using advanced art…

euroweeklynews.com · 2024

Despite having no official presence on the platform, dozens of fake accounts claiming to represent the young royal have surfaced, promising monetary aid while preying on victims’ trust.

These fraudulent profiles, often crafted with artifici…

thetimes.com · 2025

Beware the "fake Leonor". Internet scammers posing as a Spanish royal princess have repeatedly been able to defraud vulnerable individuals in the Hispanic world.

Princess Leonor, 19, the much-beloved heir to the Spanish throne, does not hav…

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.

unreviewed

Incident Date:

2024-12-03