Italian Mediaset Journalist Safiria Leccese's Image Was Reportedly Used in a Purportedly AI-Generated Fake Loan Scam

Italian media reported that scammers purportedly used AI to create fake social media profiles and a video impersonating Mediaset journalist Safiria Leccese, using her image and footage associated with her political-interview program Super Partes to promote a personal loan. Leccese said several people were deceived within an hour. After she contacted postal police, two additional fake profiles using her image were reportedly found and blocked.

Risk classification

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

Scammers used AI-generated deepfakes of a well-known journalist to impersonate her and run a fraudulent loan scam, targeting individuals for financial gain.

Causal factors

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

The incident was initiated by human scammers who intentionally used deployed AI deepfake technology to defraud victims.

EU AI Act risk tier

• Risk tier: 3 Limited Risk

Limited Risk: The incident involves AI-generated content, specifically a deepfake video, which falls under Limited Risk due to transparency obligations.

AI system and alleged parties

• AI system: None named
• AI purpose: Deepfake Video Generation; Voice Generation
• Behaviour type: Tool
• Alleged developer: Voice cloning technology developers, Deepfake technology developers
• Alleged deployer: Scammers
• Alleged harmed parties: Safiria Leccese, Privacy, Mediaset, Epistemic integrity

Harm severity

Severity ratings are based on this scale.

Highest direct severity in any category: Minor. 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 Minor, 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 Minor, indirect Negligible
• Epistemic: direct Minor, indirect Negligible
• Child sexual exploitation and abuse: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible

Malicious content

Reported: The report explicitly describes the creation and spread of malicious deepfake content designed to defraud people.

Directly caused: Scammers created and distributed a deepfake video and three fake social media profiles exploiting Safiria Leccese's image to promote a fraudulent loan.

Psychological

Reported: The report explicitly describes psychological distress experienced by the impersonated journalist.

Directly caused: Safiria Leccese suffered emotional distress, reporting that she felt 'mortified' and experienced 'profound pain' because people fell for the scam using her likeness.

Inferred additional harm: The victims who were defrauded of their money likely experienced significant stress, anxiety, and distress, though this is not explicitly detailed in the report.

Epistemic

Reported: The report explicitly describes epistemic harm through the fabrication of a video showing a real journalist endorsing a loan.

Directly caused: A deepfake video fabricated a false scenario where a journalist promoted a personal loan, misleading viewers into believing it was authentic.

Inferred additional harm: Such deepfakes contribute to a general erosion of trust in broadcast journalism and media figures.

People affected

• Occurrences reported: 1
• People reportedly harmed: 6
• People reportedly exposed: 50

Potential causes

Management

• Inadequate Platform Moderation: Social media platforms failed to detect and block fake profiles quickly.

Technology

• AI Deepfake Video Generation: AI tools enabled realistic fake video and audio of the journalist.
• Automated Recommendation System: Algorithms automatically promoted the fake profile to show followers.

Data Inputs

• Unauthorized Media Scraping: Scammers stole official show frames and images to create the deepfake.

Human Factors

• Victim Trust in Media Figure: People trusted the familiar journalist and fell for the fake loan offer.

Process and Methods

• Weak Account Verification: Accounts can be opened without verifying the user's real identity.

Regulatory Environment

• Lack of Digital ID Mandates: No laws exist requiring digital identity cards to open social accounts.
• Absence of AI Regulation: Lack of clear rules and laws governing the malicious use of AI.

Information quality

• Classification confidence: High
• Reason for confidence: The reports provide clear and consistent details about the deepfake scam, the victim's reaction, and the police action. While the specific AI model and exact financial losses are not detailed, the core facts of the incident are well-established.
• Ambiguities identified: The specific AI model used to generate the deepfake is not identified, and the exact financial losses are not quantified.
• Alternative interpretations: None.

An Italian journalist was deepfaked to promote a fraudulent loan scam on social media, resulting in minor financial losses for several individuals. The incident represents a common cybercrime threat with minor national security implications, manageable through standard law enforcement and regulatory procedures.

• Overall national security impact: Minor
• Scope: Single nation
• Primary target: Italy
• Alleged perpetrator: Unknown

Threat characteristics

• Imminence: Long-term. The active scam accounts were blocked, making this an ongoing strategic concern regarding deepfake fraud rather than an active crisis.
• Autonomy: Human-controlled. The AI system was utilized purely as a generative tool by human scammers to create the deceptive media.
• Novelty: Established threat. Deepfake impersonation scams targeting public figures for financial fraud are a well-documented and established threat vector.

Impact by dimension

• Physical security: Negligible. The incident was a financial scam with no threat to physical systems, critical infrastructure, or human safety.
• Information security: Negligible. While a deepfake of a journalist was used, it was for localized financial fraud rather than state-sponsored disinformation or intelligence compromise.
• Sovereignty: Negligible. No impact on state authority, elections, or core government operations; handled as a standard criminal matter by local postal police.
• Economic security: Negligible. The financial impact was limited to individual scam victims and does not threaten national financial systems or strategic technological advantages.
• Societal stability: Minor. The incident caused distress to the impersonated individual and represents a minor threat to public trust in media figures, but remains a localized law enforcement issue.