Indonesian President Deepfake Scam Defrauds Citizens

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Scammers used AI-generated deepfake videos featuring President Prabowo to solicit money by promising non-existent aid. The fraudulent videos, replicated across 20 provinces, deceived victims into paying administrative fees via WhatsApp. Authorities and experts warn of rising deepfake scams that exploit public trust and financial vulnerabilities.[AI generated]

Why's our monitor labelling this an incident or hazard?

The article explicitly mentions the use of AI tools to create deepfake videos that impersonate a political figure to scam people out of money. The harm is direct and materialized, as victims have lost money due to the fraudulent videos. The AI system's role is pivotal in generating realistic fake videos that enabled the scam. This fits the definition of an AI Incident because the AI system's use has directly led to harm (financial loss) to groups of people. The event is not merely a potential risk or a general update but a concrete case of AI-enabled harm.[AI generated]
AI principles
AccountabilityTransparency & explainabilityRobustness & digital securitySafetyDemocracy & human autonomyHuman wellbeing

Industries
Media, social platforms, and marketingGovernment, security, and defenceDigital securityFinancial and insurance services

Affected stakeholders
General public

Harm types
Economic/PropertyReputationalPublic interest

Severity
AI incident

AI system task:
Content generation

In other databases

Articles about this incident or hazard

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Indonesians fall victim to Prabowo deepfakes

2025-03-02
The Manila Times
Why's our monitor labelling this an incident or hazard?
The article explicitly mentions the use of AI tools to create deepfake videos that impersonate a political figure to scam people out of money. The harm is direct and materialized, as victims have lost money due to the fraudulent videos. The AI system's role is pivotal in generating realistic fake videos that enabled the scam. This fits the definition of an AI Incident because the AI system's use has directly led to harm (financial loss) to groups of people. The event is not merely a potential risk or a general update but a concrete case of AI-enabled harm.
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Indonesians swindled by scams using President Prabowo deepfakes

2025-03-02
dailyexpress.com.my
Why's our monitor labelling this an incident or hazard?
The article explicitly mentions the use of AI-powered deepfake technology to create fraudulent videos that have been used to scam Indonesians out of money. The harm is realized and ongoing, with victims having already lost money. The AI system's role is pivotal as it enables the creation of convincing fake videos that deceive victims. Therefore, this event qualifies as an AI Incident due to direct harm caused by the use of an AI system in a scam.
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"What Are Your Needs?" New Scam In Indonesia Uses President Deepfakes

2025-03-02
ndtv.com
Why's our monitor labelling this an incident or hazard?
The event involves the use of AI-generated deepfake videos, which are AI systems that generate synthetic audio-visual content mimicking real people. The scam directly caused financial harm to victims, fulfilling the criteria for an AI Incident under harm to persons or communities. The AI system's use in creating convincing fake videos was pivotal to the scam's success and resulting harm. Therefore, this is classified as an AI Incident.
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Indonesians swindled by scams using President Prabowo deepfakes

2025-03-02
Philstar.com
Why's our monitor labelling this an incident or hazard?
The article explicitly mentions the use of AI-based deepfake technology to create fraudulent videos of the Indonesian President and other figures, which were used to scam people out of money. The harm is direct financial loss to victims, fulfilling the criteria of harm to persons or communities. The AI system's use is central to the incident, as the deepfakes enabled the scam's credibility and reach. This is a clear case of an AI Incident involving malicious use of AI-generated content causing realized harm.
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Scammers use president's deepfakes to exploit Indonesians

2025-03-02
The News International
Why's our monitor labelling this an incident or hazard?
The event involves the use of AI systems (deepfake generation tools) to create realistic fake videos that impersonate public figures. These videos have been used in scams that have directly caused financial harm to individuals, fulfilling the criteria for an AI Incident. The harm includes deception leading to monetary loss, which is a significant and clearly articulated harm where the AI system's role is pivotal. The involvement of AI is explicit and central to the incident, and the harm is realized, not just potential.
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Indonesians swindled by scams using President Prabowo deepfakes

2025-03-02
NonStop Local Billings
Why's our monitor labelling this an incident or hazard?
The article explicitly mentions the use of AI tools to create deepfake videos that impersonate public figures to defraud people. The scams have already caused financial harm to victims, fulfilling the criteria for an AI Incident as the AI system's use directly led to harm (financial loss) to individuals. The involvement of AI is clear and central to the incident, and the harm is realized, not just potential. Hence, the event is classified as an AI Incident.
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Indonesians swindled by scams using President Prabowo deepfakes

2025-03-02
France 24
Why's our monitor labelling this an incident or hazard?
The article explicitly mentions the use of AI deepfake technology to create fraudulent videos that have directly led to financial scams and harm to Indonesian citizens. The AI system's use in generating realistic fake videos is central to the scam's success, fulfilling the criteria for an AI Incident due to direct harm (financial loss) caused by the AI system's outputs. The involvement of AI in the scam's development and use is clear, and the harm is realized, not just potential. Therefore, this event qualifies as an AI Incident.
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Victims swindled by scams using President Prabowo deepfakes - Society - The Jakarta Post

2025-03-03
The Jakarta Post
Why's our monitor labelling this an incident or hazard?
The event explicitly involves AI systems generating deepfake videos that impersonate public figures to deceive victims into sending money, causing direct financial harm. The use of AI-generated synthetic media is central to the scam's operation and the harm caused. The harm is realized and widespread, affecting many victims. This fits the definition of an AI Incident because the AI system's use has directly led to harm to people (financial loss) and harm to communities (widespread scam).
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"Who Hasn't Received Aid?" Scammers Use President's DeepFake Videos In Indonesia

2025-03-03
News18
Why's our monitor labelling this an incident or hazard?
The article explicitly mentions the use of AI tools to create deepfake videos that have been used by scammers to defraud people of money. The harm is realized and ongoing, as victims have already lost money and the scam has spread widely. The AI system's use in generating realistic fake videos is pivotal to the scam's success, directly leading to financial harm and misinformation. Therefore, this qualifies as an AI Incident due to direct harm caused by the AI system's use in fraudulent activities.
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Indonesians swindled by scams using President Prabowo deepfakes

2025-03-02
The Peninsula
Why's our monitor labelling this an incident or hazard?
The article explicitly mentions the use of AI tools to create deepfake videos and audio impersonating President Prabowo and other prominent figures. These AI-generated deepfakes were used in fraudulent schemes that directly caused financial harm to victims. The involvement of AI in generating the deceptive content is clear, and the harm (financial loss) has already occurred. This fits the definition of an AI Incident, as the AI system's use directly led to harm to groups of people (financial injury).
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Indonesians conned by scams using Prabowo deepfake

2025-03-02
Khmer Times - Insight into Cambodia
Why's our monitor labelling this an incident or hazard?
The event explicitly involves AI systems (deepfake technology) used to create fraudulent videos that directly caused financial harm to individuals, which qualifies as harm to people (a form of harm to persons). The scam has already occurred and caused realized harm, not just potential harm. Therefore, this is an AI Incident due to the direct link between the AI system's malicious use and the resulting harm to victims.
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Indonesians swindled by scams using president deepfakes

2025-03-02
Daily Tribune
Why's our monitor labelling this an incident or hazard?
The event involves the use of AI systems (deepfake generation) to create fraudulent videos impersonating public figures, which directly led to financial scams and monetary losses for victims. This constitutes harm to property and communities through deception and fraud. The AI system's use is central to the incident, as the deepfakes enabled the scam's credibility and reach. Therefore, this qualifies as an AI Incident under the framework, as the AI system's use directly led to significant harm.
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Indonesians swindled by scams using President Prabowo deepfakes

2025-03-02
Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal
Why's our monitor labelling this an incident or hazard?
The event describes a deepfake video of a political figure used in scams, which directly leads to harm (financial and possibly psychological) to individuals. The AI system's use in generating the deepfake is central to the harm caused, fulfilling the criteria for an AI Incident due to violations of rights and harm to communities through deception and fraud.
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Indonesians swindled by scams using President Prabowo deepfakes

2025-03-02
The Manila Times
Why's our monitor labelling this an incident or hazard?
The article explicitly mentions the use of AI-based deepfake technology to create fraudulent videos that have been used to scam people out of money. The harm is realized and direct, as victims have been financially defrauded. The AI system's role is pivotal in enabling the scam by generating convincing fake videos of public figures. Therefore, this event qualifies as an AI Incident due to the direct harm caused by the malicious use of AI-generated deepfakes in scams.
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Indonesians swindled by scams using President Prabowo deepfakes | FOX 28 Spokane

2025-03-02
FOX 28 Spokane
Why's our monitor labelling this an incident or hazard?
The article explicitly mentions the use of AI-based deepfake technology to create fraudulent videos that have been used to scam people out of money. The harm is realized and direct, as victims have lost money due to the scam. The AI system's use is central to the incident, as the deepfakes enabled the deception. Therefore, this qualifies as an AI Incident due to direct harm caused by the malicious use of AI-generated content leading to financial harm to individuals and communities.
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Indonesians swindled by scams using President Prabowo deepfakes

2025-03-02
The Straits Times
Why's our monitor labelling this an incident or hazard?
The article explicitly mentions the use of deepfake AI technology to create fraudulent videos of the Indonesian president and other figures, which have been used to scam people out of money. The harm is direct and realized, as victims have lost money due to the scam. The AI system's role is pivotal in generating convincing fake videos that enabled the scam. This fits the definition of an AI Incident because the AI system's use has directly led to harm (financial loss) to individuals, which is a significant and clearly articulated harm. The involvement of law enforcement and fact-checkers further confirms the incident's seriousness and impact.
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Indonesians swindled by scams using president deepfakes

2025-03-02
Prothomalo
Why's our monitor labelling this an incident or hazard?
The event explicitly mentions the use of deepfake technology, which is an AI system capable of generating realistic synthetic video content. The deepfake videos have been used maliciously to commit scams, causing direct harm to individuals by defrauding them. This constitutes an AI Incident because the AI system's use has directly led to harm to people (financial harm through scams).
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Indonesians swindled by scams using President Prabowo deepfakes

2025-03-02
The New Indian Express
Why's our monitor labelling this an incident or hazard?
The event explicitly describes the use of AI-generated deepfake technology to create fraudulent videos of a public figure, which were then used to scam people out of money. This constitutes direct harm to individuals (financial harm) caused by the AI system's outputs. Therefore, this qualifies as an AI Incident due to realized harm resulting from the AI system's use in a malicious scam.
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Indonesians swindled by scams using President Prabowo deepfakes

2025-03-02
Digital Journal
Why's our monitor labelling this an incident or hazard?
The event explicitly involves AI systems in the form of deepfake technology used to create fraudulent videos of public figures. The scam has directly caused financial harm to victims who were tricked into sending money. The AI system's outputs (deepfake videos) were pivotal in enabling the scam, fulfilling the criteria for an AI Incident. The harm is realized and widespread, affecting many individuals and involving law enforcement actions. This is not merely a potential risk or a complementary update but a clear case of AI misuse causing direct harm.
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Swindled by 'Prabowo'

2025-03-02
The Star
Why's our monitor labelling this an incident or hazard?
The event involves the use of AI systems (deepfake technology) to create fraudulent videos impersonating public figures, which directly caused harm to people by scamming them out of money. This fits the definition of an AI Incident because the AI system's use directly led to harm to groups of people (financial loss) and harm to communities (through misinformation and fraud). The involvement of AI is explicit and central to the harm caused. Therefore, this is classified as an AI Incident.