HISPI Project Cerebellum HISPI PROJECT CEREBELLUM

Purportedly AI-Generated Deepfake Ads on Instagram Impersonate Gisele Bündchen and Other Celebrities in Brazilian Fraud Scheme

October 1, 2025

Brazilian authorities arrested four suspects for utilizing deepfakes, allegedly generated by AI, in Instagram ads featuring celebrities such as Gisele Bündchen. The scheme, active since August 2024, amassed over 20 million reais ($3.9 million) in suspicious funds through fraudulent giveaways and skincare product promotions. Victims often lost small amounts that typically went unreported, a phenomenon investigators called 'statistical immunity.'

This incident highlights the need for responsible AI practices and governance to prevent such deceptive activities. For those interested in shaping the future of trustworthy AI and contributing to safe and secure AI practices, join us at HISPI Project Cerebellum TAIM to Govern, Map, Measure, or Manage incidents like this one.

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Alleged deployer
unidentified-brazilian-fraud-group-(arrested-in-rio-grande-do-sul), unknown-scammers-operating-instagram-ad-accounts
Alleged developer
meta, unknown-deepfake-technology-developers, unknown-voice-cloning-technology-developers
Alleged harmed parties
general-public-of-brazil, brazilian-consumers-defrauded-via-instagram-ads, gisele-bundchen, angelica-huck, juliette-freire-feitosa, maisa-silva, sabrina-sato

Source

Data from the AI Incident Database (AIID). Cite this incident: https://incidentdatabase.ai/cite/1224

Data source

Incident data is from the AI Incident Database (AIID).

When citing the database as a whole, please use:

McGregor, S. (2021) Preventing Repeated Real World AI Failures by Cataloging Incidents: The AI Incident Database. In Proceedings of the Thirty-Third Annual Conference on Innovative Applications of Artificial Intelligence (IAAI-21). Virtual Conference.

Pre-print on arXiv · Database snapshots & citation guide

We use weekly snapshots of the AIID for stable reference. For the official suggested citation of a specific incident, use the “Cite this incident” link on each incident page.