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A married couple in Samsun, Turkey, lost 1.5 million lira after being targeted by a scam involving an alleged AI-generated investment video on Facebook. The scammers used the video to establish trust before coercing the victims into a series of fraudulent financial transactions, including unauthorized bank transfers and forced loans. The victims have filed a criminal complaint regarding the significant financial loss and emotional distress.
İsa Kereci and Hale Kereci, a married couple in Samsun, Turkey, reportedly lost 1.5 million lira after being deceived by an alleged AI-generated investment video on Facebook. The scammers allegedly used the video to build credibility and then guided them through staged "investment" steps, including screen sharing, fees, forced loans, and unauthorized bank and credit card transfers. The couple filed a criminal complaint, reporting severe financial harm and significant emotional distress.
Domain classification, causal taxonomy, severity scores, and national security assessments were LLM-classified and may contain errors.
Using AI systems to gain a personal advantage over others such as through cheating, fraud, scams, blackmail or targeted manipulation of beliefs or behavior. Examples include AI-facilitated plagiarism for research or education, impersonating a trusted or fake individual for illegitimate financial benefit, or creating humiliating or sexual imagery.
The incident involves malicious actors using an AI-generated investment video to deceive specific victims for financial gain, resulting in a loss of 1.5 million lira.
Human
Due to a decision or action made by humans
Intentional
Due to an expected outcome from pursuing a goal
Post-deployment
Occurring after the AI model has been trained and deployed
The incident was caused by human scammers who intentionally deployed an AI-generated video post-deployment to defraud the victims.
Added categories peak at 2: Minor (Psychological Harm, Indirect)
A married couple in Turkey lost 1.5 million Lira to a financial scam initiated by an AI-generated deepfake investment video on Facebook. While devastating to the individuals, the incident represents a localized criminal act with negligible implications for national security.
The AI system was used as a static tool to generate a deepfake investment video, which was then deployed by human scammers to deceive the victims. The AI did not exhibit autonomous decision-making or interactive assistant capabilities during the execution of the scam.
Risk Level 3: The report describes the use of an AI-generated investment video, which falls under the category of deepfakes or AI-generated content. According to the EU AI Act, such systems pose a limited risk and are subject to transparency obligations to ensure users are aware they are interacting with AI-generated media.
The AI was explicitly used to create a synthetic investment video which was then distributed as an advertisement on Facebook.
The report clearly outlines the sequence of events, the amount of money lost (1.5 million lira), the platform used (Facebook), and the role of the AI-generated video in initiating the scam. There is little ambiguity regarding the primary harm (financial fraud) and the mechanism used.
None. The event is a straightforward financial scam facilitated by a deepfake video.
While the specific AI generator is unknown, this detail is not strictly necessary to classify the incident as a deepfake-facilitated financial scam.
Technology
AI Deepfake Generation
AI was used to create highly convincing fake investment video advertisements.
Screen Sharing Abuse
Scammers used screen sharing to gain direct access to victims' bank accounts.
Data Inputs
Deceptive Social Media Ad
The malicious input was a fraudulent ad displayed directly on Facebook.
Human Factors
Low Digital Literacy
Victims easily trusted the video and shared sensitive screen access.
Financial Vulnerability
Victims were lured by the promise of high returns on low initial investments.
Process and Methods
Weak Ad Review Process
Facebook failed to detect and block the fraudulent AI investment ad.
Inadequate Bank Controls
Bank systems allowed multiple suspicious transfers and screen-share actions.
Management
Poor Platform Governance
Social media management prioritized ad revenue over strict safety screening.
Regulatory Environment
Weak AI Media Regulations
Lack of strict laws targeting deepfakes and AI-generated scam advertisements.
AI system involved
An AI system was involved, but the reports do not identify it.
Identified by automated extraction; can differ from the alleged developers above.
