Georgia-based scam ring defrauds €33 million using deepfake celebrity ads
A Georgian criminal network operating call centers used AI-generated deepfake videos of celebrities to fraudulently promote cryptocurrency and investment schemes, reportedly defrauding thousands of savers across Europe and Canada of approximately €33 million. The scam was exposed after call center data was leaked to Swedish media and subsequently investigated by journalists.
What happened
A criminal network based in Georgia operating from three buildings in Tbilisi used deepfake technology to create fraudulent videos featuring the faces of celebrity personalities including financial expert Martin Lewis, radio presenter Zoe Ball, and adventurer Ben Fogle.
The network, comprising approximately 85 call center operators calling themselves 'skameri' (Georgian for scammers), published these deepfake videos on Facebook and Google to fraudulently promote cryptocurrencies and other investment schemes.
The group contacted thousands of potential victims across Europe and Canada in recent weeks, attempting to convince them to transfer money from their savings accounts.
Reported impact
The scam reportedly defrauded victims of approximately $35 million (€33 million), with around one-third of the total obtained from United Kingdom citizens.
Victims included pensioners, employees, and small business owners across Europe and Canada who were deceived into transferring millions of dollars.
Index analysis
The fraud was discovered after unknown parties sent a large quantity of call center data related to the scheme to Swedish public broadcaster SVT, which shared the files with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, The Guardian, and other news organizations.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.