GCD AI RADAR
incidents/AIR-2025-0169

Deepfake of Maltese Prime Minister and Journalist Used to Promote Fraud

AI-enabled attack3 Confirmed exploitationDeepfake fraud

Scammers used AI-generated voice deepfakes to mimic the Maltese Prime Minister and a journalist to endorse a fake investment scheme. The fraudulent video repurposed interview footage with synthesized audio.

Details

type
AI-enabled attack
Attackers used AI as a meaningful part of a cyberattack against someone else.
categories
  • Deepfake fraud
    Synthetic voice, video or images used to impersonate people for fraud, extortion or access.
owasp llm top 10
no entry for these categories
mitre atlas
Both rows are derived from the type and categories (OWASP 2025 edition, ATLAS release 2026.09), not classified per record. How
severity
3 · Confirmed exploitation
Used against real targets; limited or unclear impact.
targets
Individuals
products
synthetic voice generator
incident date
17 Feb 2025
first reported
17 Feb 2025
origin
AI Incident Database
Derived from the AI Incident Database (CC BY-SA 4.0).
classifier confidence
0.90 · published at or above 0.80; see the methodology
tags
deepfake · fraud · impersonation · malta
record
created 2026-10-18 06:33Z · updated 2026-10-18 06:59Z · json

Sources · 1

  1. 2025-02-17
    Reported Deepfake of Maltese Prime Minister Robert Abela and Journalist Mark Laurence Zammit Used to Promote Fraudulent Investment
    AI Incident Database · incidentdatabase.ai/cite/935

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