Scammers Allegedly Using Deepfake Technology to Impersonate Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan

Scammers are reportedly using deepfake technology to impersonate Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, according to the Personal Data Protection Agency. The video is reported to have circulated from a Russian-language account called Noticias Mundiales ("World News").

Risk classification

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

The incident involves scammers using deepfake technology to impersonate a public figure to execute a targeted investment scam and financial fraud.

Additional risk subdomains

• 3.1 False or misleading information: The deepfake video generated false information about a non-existent investment scheme promising high monthly returns.

Causal factors

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

The incident was caused by human scammers who intentionally deployed a deepfake video of the Prime Minister post-deployment to defraud citizens.

EU AI Act risk tier

• Risk tier: 3 Limited Risk

Limited Risk: The report describes the use of AI-generated content (deepfakes), which under the EU AI Act poses a moderate risk and is subject to specific transparency obligations to ensure users are informed of its synthetic nature.

AI system and alleged parties

• AI system: None named
• AI purpose: Deepfake Video Generation; Voice Generation
• Behaviour type: Tool
• Alleged developer: Unknown deepfake technology developers
• Alleged deployer: Unknown scammers, Scammers impersonating Nikol Pashinyan
• Alleged harmed parties: Nikol Pashinyan, General public of Armenia

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 Minor, indirect Negligible
• Psychological: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible
• Epistemic: direct Minor, indirect Negligible
• Child sexual exploitation and abuse: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible

Malicious content

Reported: Yes, the report describes the creation and distribution of a malicious deepfake video of the Prime Minister used to facilitate a financial scam.

Directly caused: A deepfake video of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was created and shared online in Russian from an account called 'Noticias Mundiales' to promote a fake investment scheme.

Inferred additional harm: It is likely that similar malicious deepfake ads targeting other Armenian public figures and doctors were also spread across social media platforms, exposing thousands of users.

Privacy

Reported: Yes, the report describes scammers attempting to obtain personal information, including names, phone numbers, email addresses, and bank details.

Directly caused: The deepfake video prompted users to register by entering their names, phone numbers, and email addresses on a fraudulent link.

Inferred additional harm: It is likely that some users submitted their personal and contact information, leading to unauthorized data harvesting and potential future targeting for phishing or identity theft.

Epistemic

Reported: Yes, the report describes epistemic harm through the fabrication of a video address by the Prime Minister to spread false information about a fake investment project.

Directly caused: The deepfake video fabricated footage of Pashinyan's address to make him appear to launch an investment company promising a stable income of 1.8 million drams per month.

Inferred additional harm: The proliferation of deepfakes of public officials and media figures in Armenia threatens to degrade the shared information ecosystem, making it harder for citizens to distinguish real official announcements from fabricated ones.

People affected

• Occurrences reported: 1
• People reportedly exposed: 1000

Potential causes

Technology

• AI Deepfake Generation: Scammers used AI to generate realistic video and voice of the Prime Minister.
• Social Media Distribution: Online platforms allowed the distribution of fake advertisements and videos.

Data Inputs

• Public Address Footage: Scammers used official footage of the PM's address to build the deepfake.

Human Factors

• Trust in Public Figures: Scammers exploited citizens' trust in official announcements from the PM.
• Lack of User Awareness: Users may lack the skills to identify sophisticated deepfake videos.

Process and Methods

• Inadequate Ad Verification: Platforms failed to verify the legitimacy of political and investment ads.
• Delayed Threat Detection: No proactive systems identified the deepfake before it was published.

Regulatory Environment

• Cross-Border Jurisdiction: Admins operated from multiple countries, making enforcement difficult.

Information quality

• Classification confidence: High
• Reason for confidence: The reports from Armenpress and OC Media clearly outline the nature of the deepfake scam, the target (Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan), the platform/account used, and the response from the Armenian Personal Data Protection Agency. The facts are consistent across the reports.
• Ambiguities identified: The specific AI tools or models used to generate the deepfake are not identified. The exact number of users who fell victim to the scam or registered their data is not specified.
• Alternative interpretations: None. The incident is unambiguously an attempted financial scam using synthetic media.

Scammers used deepfake technology to impersonate Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in a fraudulent online investment scheme. While the impersonation of a head of state is concerning, the incident is assessed as a minor national security threat as it constitutes localized financial fraud rather than a coordinated state-sponsored information warfare or sovereignty disruption campaign.

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

Threat characteristics

• Imminence: Long-term. The immediate scam was addressed by public warnings, but the proliferation of synthetic media targeting leaders represents an ongoing strategic concern.
• Autonomy: Human-controlled. The AI system was used as a tool by human scammers who controlled the creation, narrative, and distribution of the deepfake video.
• Novelty: Established threat. Deepfakes of public figures and previous fraudulent campaigns in Armenia indicate this is an established threat method.

Impact by dimension

• Physical security: Negligible. No physical systems, critical infrastructure, or kinetic targets were impacted by this digital scam.
• Information security: Minor. Impersonation of the Prime Minister represents a minor information threat, but the primary motive was financial fraud rather than a coordinated state-sponsored disinformation campaign.
• Sovereignty: Minor. Impersonating the head of state could minorly affect public trust in official communications, but it did not disrupt core government decision-making or operations.
• Economic security: Minor. The incident targets individual citizens' financial assets through fraud, but does not pose a systemic risk to the national financial system or strategic technology.
• Societal stability: Minor. While attempting to harvest personal data and defraud citizens, the scam does not present a systemic threat to civil liberties or broader societal stability.