AI-generated fake priest scam discovered in São Paulo

A fraudulent scheme using artificial intelligence has been uncovered in Valinhos, São Paulo, where scammers used AI-generated videos to solicit donations. The scam featured a non-existent priest named Mateus, who claimed to have lost both legs while traveling to celebrate Mass and requested financial assistance to purchase prosthetics.

The fraud was identified after a video circulated on social media. The deception was flagged by journalist and theologian Felipe Zangari, who noted that the mouth movements in the video did not align naturally with the speech, a common indicator of AI manipulation. The scheme aimed to exploit the empathy of social media users by presenting a fabricated, moving story to divert donations.