Pashinyan’s face included in deepfake fraud video
Citing the Personal Data Protection Agency of Armenia, Armenpress reported on Tuesday that scammers have used an AI-generated image of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan as part of an attempted scam.
The video was shared online in Russian from an account called ‘Noticias Mundiales’ (World News).
The agency urged citizens ‘to ignore such fake ads and never give out personal information, including bank account data’, Armenpress wrote.
The deepfake video used footage of Pashinyan’s latest address, in which he presented his ‘Real Armenia’ ideology.
An apparent fragment of the fabricated video still available online showed a deepfake Pashinyan appearing to say he was launching an investment company promising ‘a stable income of ֏ 1.8 million ($4,500) per month’.
The deepfake Pashinyan then called the audience to ‘follow the link under this video’ and register by entering their names, phone numbers, and email addresses, after which, the deepfake video said that ‘your personal manager will contact you shortly to explain the next steps’.
It also noted that the ‘access to the project’ was open only for 24 hours and the video concluded with a deepfake Pashinyan appearing to state that ‘the future of our people is in your hands’.
This was not the first instance when Pashinyan’s face has been used in a deepfake.
In October 2023, the Personal Data Protection Agency reported that Pashinyan’s speech ‘was falsified using technical means’ and was used ‘to organise a fake advertising campaign on Facebook’.
They attached a screenshot from the ‘page transparency’ section of the Facebook account, which showed that it was run by admins located in Vietnam, Bangladesh, the Philippines, and Venezuela.
Deepfake videos involving Armenians have become frequent in recent months.
CivilNet’s fact-checking team debunked such cases when an anchor and an interviewer from RFE/RL and Armenian Public TV, as well as doctors and other prominent figures, appeared in fabricated videos that sought to advertise various drugs.
