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Incident 959: Deepfake Video of Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and Other Officials Reportedly Used in Scam to Defraud Citizens Across 20 Provinces

Description: A deepfake scam allegedly using AI-generated videos of Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and other officials reportedly defrauded victims across 20 provinces, tricking them into paying Rp 250,000 to Rp 1 million ($15-$60) for purported financial aid. The fraudulent clips, circulated on TikTok, Instagram, and WhatsApp, appeared to show Prabowo offering assistance. Police reportedly arrested two suspects in February 2025, but deepfake scams exploiting high-profile figures continue to spread.
Editor Notes: Reconstructing the timeline of reported events: (1) November 2024: At some point this month, a deepfake video allegedly featuring Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto appears on Instagram where he is depicted offering financial aid and asking viewers to contact a WhatsApp number to claim assistance. The scam requires victims to pay Rp 250,000 to Rp 1 million ($15-$60) in administrative fees. (2) Between November 2024 and February 2025: Fraudulent videos along these lines reportedly continue spreading across TikTok, Instagram, and WhatsApp, with at least 22 TikTok accounts promoting the scam under hashtags like "Prabowo shares blessings." Some videos are reported to have racked up millions of views. Some of them also feature Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka and other public figures. (3) February 2025: Indonesian police arrest a suspect allegedly involved in the deepfake scam. The investigation reveals the scammer had collected Rp 65 million ($4,000) from victims. A second suspect is detained for a separate deepfake-related fraud, but authorities have not as of yet disclosed further details. (4) Between February and March 2025: Despite arrests, deepfake videos have continued circulating on social media of a similar vein. Fact-checkers from AFP and Indonesian media organizations have been working to identify more accounts pushing similar scams. TikTok is reported to have removed at least one account, but many are apparently remaining active. We are marking 11/01/2024 as the incident date, although most reporting on this incident began on 03/02/2025.

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Alleged: Unknown deepfake technology developer and Unknown voice cloning technology developer developed an AI system deployed by scammers , Fraudsters and Scammers impersonating Prabowo Subianto, which harmed General public of Indonesia , Prabowo Subianto , Government of Indonesia , Gibran Rakabuming Raka and Indonesian government officials.
Alleged implicated AI systems: Unknown deepfake app and Unknown voice cloning technology

Incident Stats

Incident ID
959
Report Count
4
Incident Date
2025-03-02
Editors

Incident Reports

Reports Timeline

+1
Indonesians swindled by scams using President Prabowo deepfakes
+1
Indonesians swindled by scams using President Prabowo deepfakes
Victims swindled by scams using President Prabowo deepfakes
Indonesians swindled by scams using President Prabowo deepfakes

Indonesians swindled by scams using President Prabowo deepfakes

caledonianrecord.com

Indonesians swindled by scams using President Prabowo deepfakes

Indonesians swindled by scams using President Prabowo deepfakes

newsbug.info

Indonesians swindled by scams using President Prabowo deepfakes

Indonesians swindled by scams using President Prabowo deepfakes

france24.com

Victims swindled by scams using President Prabowo deepfakes

Victims swindled by scams using President Prabowo deepfakes

thejakartapost.com

Indonesians swindled by scams using President Prabowo deepfakes
caledonianrecord.com · 2025

Wearing a traditional Indonesian black hat and shirt, President Prabowo Subianto speaks to the camera in an Instagram video, asking his people how he can help them after his election last year.

"Who hasn't received aid from me? What are you…

Indonesians swindled by scams using President Prabowo deepfakes
newsbug.info · 2025

Wearing a traditional Indonesian black hat and shirt, President Prabowo Subianto speaks to the camera in an Instagram video, asking his people how he can help them after his election last year.

"Who hasn't received aid from me? What are you…

Indonesians swindled by scams using President Prabowo deepfakes
france24.com · 2025

"Who hasn't received aid from me? What are your needs right now?" Prabowo appears to ask viewers in the clip posted in November.

But while the Indonesian leader's mouth moves and his eyes blink, the words he utters are part of a fraudulent …

Victims swindled by scams using President Prabowo deepfakes
thejakartapost.com · 2025

Wearing a traditional Indonesian black hat and shirt, President Prabowo Subianto speaks to the camera in an Instagram video, asking his people how he can help them after his election last year.

"Who hasn't received aid from me? What are you…

Variants

A "variant" is an incident that shares the same causative factors, produces similar harms, and involves the same intelligent systems as a known AI incident. Rather than index variants as entirely separate incidents, we list variations of incidents under the first similar incident submitted to the database. Unlike other submission types to the incident database, variants are not required to have reporting in evidence external to the Incident Database. Learn more from the research paper.

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