Description: A deepfake scam allegedly used AI-generated audio to mimic Maltese Prime Minister Robert Abela and journalist Mark Laurence Zammit, falsely portraying them as endorsing an investment scheme. The fraudulent video repurposed genuine interview footage from 2022 but replaced the original dialogue with AI-generated voices.
Entities
View all entitiesAlleged: Unknown voice cloning technology developers and Unknown deepfake technology developers developed an AI system deployed by Scammers impersonating Robert Abela and Mark Laurence Zammit and Unknown scammers, which harmed Robert Abela , Mark Laurence Zammit , General public of Malta , General public and Epistemic integrity.
Alleged implicated AI systems: Unknown voice cloning technology and Unknown deepfake 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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Claim: Robert Abela and Mark Laurence Zammit are promoting an AI-driven trading platform.
Verdict: Scammers have doctored a genuine interview using an audio deepfake to try to dupe people into signing up for a fraudulent scheme.
A new batch…
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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