Video with Reportedly AI-Generated Audio Purported to Show Croatian Footballer Luka Modrić Endorsing Immediate Matrix on Facebook Page Presented as N1 HR

A Facebook page presented as N1 HR, a Croatian news outlet, posted a video that purported to show Croatian footballer Luka Modrić endorsing the investment platform Immediate Matrix and promising returns of up to €4,000 per month. The clip was reported to use AI-generated audio and to link to an Index-style article promoting the scheme.

Risk classification

• Primary risk domain: 4 Malicious actors
• Primary risk subdomain: 4.3 Fraud, scams, and targeted manipulation

The incident involved using AI-generated voice clones of a celebrity to impersonate them for financial fraud and targeted manipulation of victims.

Additional risk subdomains

• 3.1 False or misleading information: The AI system was used to generate highly realistic false statements and misleading claims about a non-existent investment platform.

Causal factors

• Entity: Human
• Intent: Intentional
• Timing: Post-deployment

The harm was caused by malicious human actors who intentionally deployed an AI voice-cloning tool to create a fraudulent video for financial gain.

EU AI Act risk tier

• Risk tier: 3 Limited Risk

Limited Risk: The system involves AI-generated content such as deepfakes, which under the EU AI Act are subject to transparency obligations to ensure users are aware they are interacting with synthetic media.

AI system and alleged parties

• AI system: unspecified
• AI purpose: Voice Generation; Deepfake Video Generation
• Behaviour type: Tool
• Alleged developer: Unknown voice cloning technology developers, Unknown deepfake technology developers
• Alleged deployer: Unknown scammers
• Alleged harmed parties: N1 HR, Luka Modric, Investors, Fans of Luka Modric, Epistemic integrity, Croatian investors

Harm severity

Highest direct severity in any category: Substantial. Severity is scored from Negligible to Catastrophic in each harm category, for harm the reports describe as caused directly or indirectly by the AI system.

• Physical: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible
• Infrastructure: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible
• Property: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible
• Financial: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible
• Environmental: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible
• Malicious content: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible
• Differential treatment: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible
• Civil rights: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible
• Democracy: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible
• Privacy: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible
• Psychological: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible
• Epistemic: direct Minor, indirect Minor
• Child sexual exploitation and abuse: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible

Epistemic

Reported: Yes, the report describes the generation of fake audio of Luka Modric and a fake news anchor to spread false information about an investment platform.

Directly caused: The AI-generated video fabricated a statement by Modric claiming he was opening access to a trading platform.

Indirectly caused: The scam used a fake article mimicking Index.hr to further deceive users.

Inferred additional harm: The proliferation of such high-quality deepfakes erodes public trust in online media and news broadcasts.

People affected

• Occurrences reported: 1
• People reportedly harmed: 1
• People reportedly exposed: 230

Potential causes

Management

• Lack of Page Verification: Facebook managed page creation without verifying official N1 TV ownership.

Technology

• AI Voice Generation: AI synthesized Modric's voice to make the scam sound authentic.
• Unnatural Speech Synthesis: Synthesized audio had weird pauses and made-up words like 'semtram'.

Data Inputs

• Scraped Interview Media: Clips from Club del Deportista interview were used to build the deepfake.
• Spoofed Social Media Assets: Fake X screenshots and cloned Index.hr articles used as input data.

Human Factors

• Trust in Public Figures: Victims trusted Modric's identity, leading them to believe the scam.
• Financial Vulnerability: Desire for quick financial stability makes users susceptible to scams.

Process and Methods

• Flawed Platform Moderation: Facebook allowed the fake 'N1 HR' page to host and share scam videos.
• Identity Spoofing Methods: Scammers easily cloned N1 TV and Index.hr branding to deceive users.

Regulatory Environment

• Inadequate Domain Control: Regulators struggle to police domains like wirelesscartes.com.

Information quality

• Classification confidence: High
• Reason for confidence: The report from Faktograf is highly detailed, providing specific context about the Facebook post, the nature of the deepfake audio, the domain used for the scam, and the fact-checking process that confirmed it was fake. There is little ambiguity about the events.

An AI-generated deepfake video of Croatian footballer Luka Modric was used to promote a fraudulent investment platform. The incident represents a minor, localized threat to economic and information security, fitting into a well-established global pattern of AI-enabled financial scams with negligible broader national security implications.

• Overall national security impact: Minor
• Response level: Moderate
• Scope: Single nation
• Primary target: Croatia
• Alleged perpetrator: Unknown

Threat characteristics

• Imminence: Long-term. This represents an ongoing, long-term trend of AI-enabled financial fraud rather than an active national security crisis requiring immediate government intervention.
• Autonomy: Human-controlled. The AI system functioned strictly as a tool for content generation, with human actors completely controlling the creation, deployment, and targeting of the fraudulent campaign.
• Novelty: Established threat. AI-generated celebrity deepfakes for financial scams are a well-established global threat, though the localization to Croatian figures represents an ongoing deployment of this tactic.

Impact by dimension

• Physical security: Negligible. No physical systems, critical infrastructure, or human safety elements were compromised or targeted in this incident.
• Information security: Minor. The incident involved synthetic media and impersonation of a news outlet, representing a minor threat to information integrity, though it was a financially motivated scam rather than a state-sponsored campaign.
• Sovereignty: Negligible. The incident did not target or affect government decision-making, electoral systems, or sovereign state operations.
• Economic security: Minor. The incident involved a fraudulent investment scheme targeting citizens, representing a minor, localized economic threat manageable through standard law enforcement rather than a systemic economic risk.
• Societal stability: Negligible. The incident represents localized financial fraud with no significant impact on societal stability, civil liberties, or broader human rights.