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Scammers have been using deepfake technology to impersonate Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in fraudulent online advertisements. The fabricated videos, which appear to use footage from the Prime Minister's public addresses, promote a fake investment scheme promising high monthly income. The Personal Data Protection Agency of Armenia has issued warnings to citizens to avoid these scams and protect their personal and financial information.
Scammers are reportedly using deepfake technology to impersonate Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, according to the Personal Data Protection Agency. The video is reported to have circulated from a Russian-language account called Noticias Mundiales ("World News").
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 video generated false information about a non-existent investment scheme promising high monthly returns.
The incident involves scammers using deepfake technology to impersonate a public figure to execute a targeted investment scam and financial fraud.
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 a deepfake video of the Prime Minister post-deployment to defraud citizens.
Added categories peak at 3: Substantial (Epistemic Harm, Inferred)
Scammers used deepfake technology to impersonate Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in a fraudulent online investment scheme. While the impersonation of a head of state is concerning, the incident is assessed as a minor national security threat as it constitutes localized financial fraud rather than a coordinated state-sponsored information warfare or sovereignty disruption campaign.
The AI system was used as a tool by human scammers to generate a deepfake video of the Prime Minister from existing footage and audio inputs, performing a specific, well-defined synthesis function.
Limited Risk: The report describes the use of AI-generated content (deepfakes), which under the EU AI Act poses a moderate risk and is subject to specific transparency obligations to ensure users are informed of its synthetic nature.
The scammers used AI to generate a deepfake video and voice of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to make it appear as though he was endorsing a fake investment scheme.
The reports from Armenpress and OC Media clearly outline the nature of the deepfake scam, the target (Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan), the platform/account used, and the response from the Armenian Personal Data Protection Agency. The facts are consistent across the reports.
None. The incident is unambiguously an attempted financial scam using synthetic media.
Technology
AI Deepfake Generation
Scammers used AI to generate realistic video and voice of the Prime Minister.
Social Media Distribution
Online platforms allowed the distribution of fake advertisements and videos.
Data Inputs
Public Address Footage
Scammers used official footage of the PM's address to build the deepfake.
Human Factors
Trust in Public Figures
Scammers exploited citizens' trust in official announcements from the PM.
Lack of User Awareness
Users may lack the skills to identify sophisticated deepfake videos.
Process and Methods
Inadequate Ad Verification
Platforms failed to verify the legitimacy of political and investment ads.
Delayed Threat Detection
No proactive systems identified the deepfake before it was published.
Regulatory Environment
Cross-Border Jurisdiction
Admins operated from multiple countries, making enforcement difficult.
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.
