Woman defrauded of over €1 million via AI-generated deepfake video of Markus Lanz
A woman in Saxony, Germany, lost over €1 million to fraudsters who used an AI-generated deepfake video of TV presenter Markus Lanz and his ZDF talkshow to lure her into a fake investment scheme. The fraudsters initially convinced her to invest €250, then kept her sending larger sums over several months through phone calls and messages before she realized the scam when contact ceased.
What happened
In April 2026, a woman from Lichtenberg in Saxony found an AI-generated video of the ZDF talkshow 'Markus Lanz' on the internet in which an alleged financial expert discussed a profitable investment opportunity linked to a website named 'Investhub 3.0'. The woman visited the website and registered.
After registering, a woman and then an alleged broker called her. They convinced her to initially invest €250 in gold, oil and cryptocurrencies. The fraudsters kept the woman engaged for months through phone calls and messages, persuading her to send multiple transfers to various accounts, ranging from €10,000 to over €460,000.
Reported impact
The woman lost more than €1 million. She realized the fraud only when the calls from the alleged broker stopped and she recognized that the promises and investment activity had been false.
Index analysis
The deepfake video of Markus Lanz and his ZDF talkshow appeared credible to the victim. The fraudsters included a disclaimer in fine print on the website stating that any similarity to real people or events is purely coincidental and no concrete results are promised or implied, attempting to evade responsibility.
Governance controls
The Kriminalpolizei (criminal police) of Polizeidirektion Chemnitz opened investigations into the fraud and warned the public to be suspicious of high return promises without risk, to carefully check providers and platforms as they are often fake, and not to be pressured into immediate action.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.