Case uruguay-orsi-deepfake-ad-waveDeepfake fraudUY
Uruguay's Interior Ministry warns of deepfake of President Orsi as paid scam ads escalate
Uruguay's Interior Ministry warned of a deepfake of President Orsi with phishing links; by July 2026 detection firm Revelum counted 19 paid ads cloning his face and voice, 16 of them in two days.
MediumAttack using AIStatus: OngoingVerified case file
Open in the interactive mapCite this case
- Reported
- Nov 19, 2025
- Location
- UY
- Target
- Uruguayan social media users; President Yamandu Orsi
- Severity
- Medium
- Triggered by
- Unknown
- Actor type
- Criminal
- Reported loss
- None reported
- CVE
- None
What happened
Uruguay's Interior Ministry warned of a deepfake of President Orsi with phishing links; by July 2026 detection firm Revelum counted 19 paid ads cloning his face and voice, 16 of them in two days.
Impact: Nearly 4,000 fraudulent ads targeted Uruguay in the first seven months of 2026 per Revelum; losses from the Orsi campaign not disclosed.
Who triggered it
Actor: Unknown
Attribution: No attribution; Revelum noted the same four deepfake videos reused under different names to evade detection.
Motive: Investment fraud and data theft via phishing sites.
How it happened
Attack vector: Paid social media ads with cloned presidential video, fake Canal 10 and Banco Central branding, and spoofed news sites requesting US$250 deposits.
Root cause: Ad platforms approved synthetic videos of a head of state; cheap voice and lip-sync cloning.
Timeline
- Authorities warn of scams using Orsi and Vice President Cosse
- Interior Ministry issues deepfake alert
- Sixteen new Orsi deepfake ads appear in two days
- El Observador publishes Revelum findings
Response
Government advised not to open links; no takedown figures published.
Current status: Ongoing
Sources (open in a new tab)
- Montevideo Portal montevideo.com.uy
- El Observador elobservador.com.uy
- El Observador elobservador.com.uy
Cite this case
Uruguay's Interior Ministry warns of deepfake of President Orsi as paid scam ads escalate. AI Threat Watch, case uruguay-orsi-deepfake-ad-wave, Nov 19, 2025. https://aithreat.io/cases/uruguay-orsi-deepfake-ad-wave/
Permanent link: https://aithreat.io/cases/uruguay-orsi-deepfake-ad-wave/