Bulgarian actress's face used in deepfake cream advertisement scam

What happened

Lilia Maraviglia's face and voice were used without permission in a manipulated video created with artificial intelligence to advertise a regenerating cream. The video used real footage from her television interview on NOVA but added a synthetic voice generated by AI that falsely appeared to recommend the product.

Maraviglia learned of the scam when friends and acquaintances began calling to ask if she was advertising the cream. She discovered the problem approximately one year before July 2026 and clarified that she had no connection to the product and held an endorsement contract only with one other company.

Reported impact

Maraviglia expressed concern that consumers were being deceived into spending money on products about which nothing was known. She noted that while people familiar with her would recognize the voice was not hers, those unfamiliar with her could believe the false endorsement.

Index analysis

Maraviglia's colleague Gergana Stoyanova had previously been a victim of the same type of deepfake fraud targeting a different product. After discovering the abuse, Maraviglia published multiple warnings across her social media profiles.

Governance controls

Maraviglia filed a formal complaint with GDBOP, Bulgaria's principal law enforcement agency for organized crime. She reported encountering technical difficulties during the filing process while outside Bulgaria.

Classification

Organizations

GDBOP (regulator), Lilia Maraviglia (victim), Gergana Stoyanova (mentioned)

Category

Fraud, scams and manipulation

Industry

Media, social platforms and marketing

Country

Bulgaria

Harm status

Actual harm

Intent

Intentional

Timing

Unknown

Harm types

Economic or property, Reputational

Harmed

Consumers

Failure modes

Deepfake video, Manipulation or dark pattern, Voice clone

Consequences

None recorded

AI systems

Deepfake video synthesis technology

Sources and evidence