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AII-1000-63829
ReportedReported by fewer than three independent publishers, with no official finding.Supporting sources are pending verification.

Deepfake video of António Horta Osório used in investment scam

A deepfake video circulated on Facebook using the image of Portuguese banker António Horta Osório to simulate a CNN Portugal news segment promoting a false investment opportunity. Horta Osório publicly disavowed the video, stating he made no such declarations and had no involvement with the investment schemes being promoted through the manipulated content.

26 March 2026 · António Horta Osório · Fraud, scams and manipulation
26 March 2026
AII-1000-63829
Quick facts
Category
Fraud, scams and manipulation
Country
Portugal
Date
26 March 2026
Drafted by
Raidu Incident Detection

What happened

A fraudulent deepfake video circulated on Facebook that used the image of Portuguese banker António Horta Osório to simulate a CNN Portugal news segment promoting a false investment project.

The video manipulated Horta Osório's image, voice, and mouth movements to create an appearance of credibility with the objective of deceiving the public into making bank transfers or sharing personal data.

Reported impact

The deepfake video was used to promote alleged investment opportunities falsely attributed to Horta Osório, exposing members of the public to investment fraud.

Index analysis

Horta Osório stated on LinkedIn that he had made no such declarations and had no involvement with the contents, platforms, or alleged investment opportunities being promoted.

The banker highlighted increasingly sophisticated AI techniques with credible appearance designed to deceive the public, and called for reporting of suspicious content to competent authorities or directly to platforms.

Governance controls

Horta Osório characterized the misuse of public figures' images and manipulation of informative content for fraudulent purposes as a grave practice that must be combated and reported.

Classification

Category
Fraud, scams and manipulation
Industry
Media, social platforms and marketing
Country
Portugal
Harm status
Potential harm
Intent
Intentional
Timing
Unknown
Harm types
Economic or property, Reputational
Harmed
Business, General public
Failure modes
Deepfake video, Manipulation or dark pattern, Voice clone
AI systems
Video generation AI

Sources and evidence

Sources not yet published

This record was researched and written by the Index from original reporting. Its sources are still being verified by an editor, and they are listed here once that check is complete. Until then the record carries no reviewer.

How sources are verifiedSuggest a source for this incident