Synthetic media incident archive

When fake video
did real damage.

A running record of synthetic media used to deceive: deepfake videos, cloned voices, and AI-generated images that moved markets, swung headlines, and stole millions. For each one: what happened, what was faked, and how it was caught.

This archive documents confirmed, widely-reported incidents. It is a record of the public signals around each case, not a forensic re-analysis. Dates reflect when each incident surfaced publicly.

2025 Generator

Google's Veo 3 raises the floor on convincing fakes

When AI video crossed from obviously fake to genuinely hard to call.

Key fact: Text → film — Photoreal video with synchronized audio, from a prompt.
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Feb 2024 Live video

The $25 million deepfake video call

A finance worker wired a fortune after a meeting where everyone but him was fake.

Key fact: $25.6M — wired after a fully deepfaked video conference.
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Jan 2024 Voice clone

The fake Biden robocall before the New Hampshire primary

A cloned presidential voice told voters to stay home. It cost its maker millions.

Key fact: $6M — FCC fine for the AI-voice robocall scheme.
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Jan 2024 AI image

Explicit Taylor Swift deepfakes flood social media

Non-consensual AI images reached millions before platforms could react.

Key fact: Tens of millions — of views before a single fake image came down.
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Oct 2023 Video ad

Tom Hanks warns of an AI version of himself

A wave of synthetic celebrity endorsements sold products the stars never touched.

Key fact: No consent — for the AI likenesses used to sell to fans.
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May 2023 AI image

A fake Pentagon explosion briefly rattles the market

One AI image of an event that never happened moved real money.

Key fact: Minutes — of stock-market dip from a single fake image.
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Mar 2022 Deepfake video

The fake Zelensky "surrender" video

An early wartime deepfake tried to fake a national surrender, and failed.

Key fact: Wartime — a fabricated head-of-state order to surrender.
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Tracking the record. This archive is curated from confirmed, widely-reported cases and is updated as significant incidents emerge. For broader, continuously-updated coverage, these trackers are useful starting points:

Deepfakes Tracker · Resemble AI Incident Report · Lead Stories Deepfakes · Authenticity Crisis

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