International AI Safety ReportMalicious use§2.1.1

AI-made fakes fuel fraud and extortion

Seen in real incidents81 matching case files

The warning

Realistic AI-generated voices, images and video are used for fraud, extortion and sexual imagery made without consent, and cheap tools have made such content easy to produce at scale.

Paraphrased from the source. Source: International AI Safety Report 2026, Feb 3, 2026, section 2.1.1, page 45. Summary by International AI Safety Report: internationalaisafetyreport.org.

What the registry shows

The largest category in the registry: cloned voices and deepfake video calls impersonating executives, officials and relatives, and deepfake celebrity ads behind investment scams. The report adds that victims often do not report, so public cases undercount the harm.

Verified case files show this risk happening in the real world. First real-world case on file: Jan 5, 2025 · Already on file when this research was published.

Matching case files per quarter

Status history

Date	Status	Matching case files	Change
Oct 18, 2026	Seen in real incidents	81	Tracking starts

Tracked since Oct 18, 2026. A line is added when the status changes, when the first real-world case is linked, and once a month, so the record shows when a warning moved from research to reality. research_history.json

All matching case files

The same case files in other research

Seen in real incidents Malicious actors and misuse · MIT AI Risk Repository · 81 shared
Seen in real incidents People's trust in AI companions turns harmful · CAIS · 1 shared

Warnings from other sources that link to some of the same case files.

Other warnings in this group

Early signs AI content is used to sway what people believe
Seen in real incidents Criminals and state hackers use AI in cyberattacks
Seen in real incidents AI runs more of each attack, short of full autonomy
Nothing on record yet AI gives expert-level help toward biological and chemical weapons
Seen in real incidents AI systems themselves become targets

Research vs reality · International AI Safety Report →

How we match: a case file is linked to a warning when what happened is a real-world instance of the risk the source describes, judged by the editors from the facts in the case file. A match means the case fits the warning, not that it proves the source's wider argument. Allegations in lawsuits are labelled as allegations. Statuses are editorial and reviewed as new cases arrive. The matching is recomputed on every update. Data: Systematic coverage in the registry starts in 2025, so a first-case date shows when the registry first recorded the risk, not when it first happened. research.json (CC BY 4.0)