This is a research prototype. The data and analyses are preliminary and not yet validated — we'd welcome your .
Deepfake videos of former Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and current Prime Minister Robert Abela were circulated on Facebook to promote fraudulent cryptocurrency and oil trading platforms. The scams involved overlaying original footage of the politicians with AI-generated audio to make it appear as though they were endorsing the schemes. These incidents are part of a broader trend of using AI-generated content to facilitate financial fraud.
A reported doctored video falsely depicts former Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat promoting the crypto platform Nord Invest. The manipulated footage, originally from a 2013 Sky News interview, was overlaid with AI-generated audio to mimic Muscat’s voice endorsing a fraudulent scheme. The video was reportedly shared through Facebook.
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.
Also classified as
The deepfake videos generated false information by fabricating endorsements from political figures to mislead the public.
The incident involves the creation of deepfake videos of public figures to promote fraudulent investment platforms, aiming to deceive individuals for financial gain.
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 scam was intentionally created and distributed by human malicious actors using post-deployment AI voice cloning and deepfake technologies to defraud the public.
Added categories peak at 2: Minor (Epistemic Harm, Direct)
Deepfake videos of Maltese Prime Minister Robert Abela and former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat were circulated on Facebook to promote fraudulent investment schemes. While the impersonation of state leaders carries inherent risks to public trust, the incident was a financially motivated scam rather than a coordinated state-sponsored attack, resulting in minor national security implications.
The AI system functions as a Tool, performing the specific task of generating synthetic audio and synchronizing lip movements based on direct user inputs without independent decision-making.
Limited Risk: The report describes AI-generated content such as deepfakes, which are subject to transparency obligations under the EU AI Act.
The AI was used to generate synthetic voices mimicking Maltese politicians and synchronize their lip movements in existing video footage to create realistic deepfakes.
The report clearly details the nature of the deepfake videos, the platforms used, the specific politicians targeted, and the fraudulent intent. There is no ambiguity about the fact that these are AI-generated deepfakes used for financial scams.
None.
Technology
AI Deepfake Voice Generation
AI-generated audio track mimics politician's voice to sound authentic.
Lip-Sync Video Editing
Deepfake technology aligns lip movements with the fake audio script.
Data Inputs
Exploitation of Public Video
Genuine video footage from past interviews is repurposed for scams.
Human Factors
Public Trust in Celebrities
Viewers trust well-known figures, making the scam more convincing.
Process and Methods
Inadequate Platform Moderation
Facebook pages easily distribute doctored videos without detection.
Creation of Fraudulent Pages
Scammers easily set up fake pages like KETO to spread videos.
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.
