Deepfake of Greek Finance Minister Used in Facebook Investment Scam
Greece's Ministry of Economy and Finance and Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis filed a lawsuit against unknown Facebook page administrators for using AI-generated deepfakes to falsely portray the minister endorsing a fraudulent investment scheme. The fabricated content allegedly deceived citizens into investing in non-existent 'high-yield programs'.
What happened
The Greek Ministry of Economy and Finance and minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis filed a lawsuit on Friday against unknown administrators of a Facebook page for deceptive advertising. The ministry alleges that AI was used to create a deepfake video of Pierrakakis appearing to promote an investment scheme.
The material 'falsely depicted Minister Pierrakakis urging citizens to invest in supposedly "high-yield programmes",' the ministry said, adding that 'it has no relation to reality'.
Reported impact
The deepfake was used to advertise a fraudulent investment scheme, falsely portraying the minister as endorsing 'high-yield programs' to deceive citizens into investing.
Index analysis
Greek police have previously reported on deceptive advertisements on social media and websites where supposedly influential figures appear to urge citizens to buy 'miracle' medicines or invest in supposedly high-yield cryptocurrencies, gold or oil.
In February, Greek police discovered a ring of illegal trafficking of adulterated medicines via the internet, which used deepfake videos with the voice or image of celebrities including doctor Sotiris Tsiodras, journalist Nikos Hatzinikolaou and singer Giorgos Dalaras.
Governance controls
The EU's AI Act classifies deepfakes as limited risk but considers using AI to influence an election or voting behaviour as high risk.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.