Romanian Police warn of AI-driven deepfake scams in 2025
Romania's police have warned of a surge in AI-generated deepfakes and synthetic media being used for fraud and manipulation. Scammers are reportedly using fake videos of celebrities, politicians, business figures and police officers to conduct investment fraud, charity scams, romance scams and CEO/CFO fraud.
What happened
Poliția Română warned that deepfake videos and AI-generated images created with artificial intelligence have become the preferred tools of cybercriminals, promoted massively on social media networks. Well-meaning citizens are misled by these "traps" believing they see celebrities, financial experts or people in need.
The most frequent operating methods reported in 2025 include trading scams and investment fraud using deepfake videos of businessmen, celebrities or politicians recommending cryptocurrency, forex or "miraculous artificial intelligence" platforms that promise overnight money multiplication. Victims are directed to fake websites where they deposit money to be invested, but the money actually goes to the criminals through different cryptocurrency transfer schemes.
Reported impact
Deepfakes and AI-generated images are used not only for cybercrime but also for manipulation, reputation destruction, causing emotional trauma, and misleading people about scientific truths.
Charity scams use deepfakes of sick children, disaster victims or celebrities requesting urgent donations through false links. Romance scams are enhanced with AI to create fake profiles with synthetic photos and videos of attractive people, through which criminals develop emotional relationships before requesting money for medical emergencies or plane tickets.
Governance controls
Poliția Română provided citizens with recommendations to identify deepfake videos and protect themselves, including guidance on recognizing false claims from people posing as police officers.
Classification
Sources and evidence
Sources not yet published
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