Deepfake video uses Romanian central bank governor to promote fraudulent investments
Deepfake video technology was used to create fraudulent posts showing Romania's central bank governor Mugur Isărescu promoting false investment opportunities on a fake automated trading platform. The Romanian National Bank issued a public warning, stating it makes no investment recommendations and verified official communications only appear on its official channels.
What happened
Posts appearing online use deepfake video technology to show an image of Romanian National Bank governor Mugur Isărescu promoting false investment opportunities on what claims to be an automated trading platform.
The fraudulent content clones the website and social media page of a known Romanian newspaper (Adevărul) and includes a fabricated transcript of the governor purportedly participating in a television interview.
Reported impact
The fraudulent posts aim to convince the public to make financial investments through a website falsely presented as an automated trading platform.
Index analysis
The Romanian National Bank stated it does not make investment recommendations or proposals, and all official communications are published exclusively on bnr.ro and its official accounts on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, Bluesky and YouTube.
Governance controls
The central bank recommended people who interacted with such material not to provide personal or financial data and to report the situation immediately to competent authorities.
The institution noted that online fraud attempts using the identity of officials or known companies are increasingly common, and verification of information sources remains essential to avoid financial losses.
Classification
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.