# Rise of sophisticated AI-driven deepfake impersonation scams > Live situation record from CLSTR: https://clstr.news/situations/ai-driven-deepfake-impersonation-scams > Updated: 2026-08-24T02:45:48.000Z. Sources: 48. Developments: 10. Cybersecurity authorities are warning of evolving deepfake scams that use artificial intelligence to impersonate trusted individuals. In India, SEBI has warned of the ‘Boss Scam,’ where fraudsters use AI-generated video and voice cloning to impersonate executives. Similarly, the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) has issued warnings regarding criminals cloning the voices and images of relatives or colleagues. In Europe, these crimes are estimated to cause losses of approximately 8,000 euros per minute. Newer tactics include AI-powered phone scams, such as ‘SocialNext’ using an AI digital assistant to impersonate social media customer service. In Australia, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) reported a 182 per cent increase in scams removed in FY26, noting that ‘AI is making investment scams more convincing and harder to detect.’ Investment scams emerged as the largest fraud-loss category in both Australia and the United States in 2025, with losses reaching $837.7 million and $7.9 billion, respectively. Fraudsters are utilizing deepfake advertisements that impersonate financial professionals to direct users to coordinated WhatsApp groups. Furthermore, AI chatbots are proving highly effective in ‘pig butchering’ scams—long-term schemes designed to build emotional trust. Recent developments show scammers are increasingly scraping personal data from social media and data breaches to build highly personalized scripts. In Vietnam, experts warn that criminals are leveraging AI and big data to impersonate influential figures and are reportedly developing tools to bypass biometric authentication used in online payments. In the cryptocurrency sector, blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs reports that 2026 losses from deepfake scams have already exceeded the previous year’s total by 263%. TRM Labs’ AI-in-Crime Adoption Index identifies scams as the only category of crypto-crime where AI has reached a “Mature” level of adoption, with AI-related reports rising approximately 13-fold since 2022. ## Claims - Trellix identified a campaign targeting the OpenClaw platform using malicious packages. (single source) - Attackers flooded the ClawHub registry with over 350 malicious skills. (single source) - Sophos researchers found that 30 out of 38 confirmed cases of hostile AI activity involved software impersonation. (single source) - Claude was the most frequently abused lure in Sophos’ review, appearing in 26 cases. (single source) ## Timeline ### 2026-08-24: AI and deepfake technology drive rise in sophisticated online fraud Criminals in Vietnam are increasingly using AI and deepfake technology to impersonate individuals and bypass biometric security, utilizing stolen personal data to execute highly convincing online scams. 5 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/ai-and-deepfake-technology-drive-rise-in-sophisticated-online-fraud ### 2026-08-21: AI-driven impersonation scams target bank customers Sophisticated AI scams and caller ID spoofing are enabling high-level impersonation fraud, as seen in a recent North Carolina case where a woman lost $6,000 to scammers posing as her bank. 4 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/ai-driven-impersonation-scams-target-bank-customers ### 2026-08-21: AI and deepfakes drive surge in sophisticated investment fraud AI-driven investment fraud is escalating, with deepfake ads and chatbots being used to orchestrate pump-and-dump schemes and “pig butchering” scams that outperform human scammers in building victim trust. 2 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/ai-and-deepfakes-drive-surge-in-sophisticated-investment-fraud ### 2026-08-20: Cybersecurity threats rise via Telegram insider recruitment and AI-driven financial fraud TrendAI warns of a Telegram-based market recruiting employees to sell internal corporate access, while the French AMF blacklists BitKeltTrade for using AI-driven impersonation to commit financial fraud. 2 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/cybersecurity-threats-rise-via-telegram-insider-recruitment-and-ai-driven-financial-fraud ### 2026-08-19: AI agents and brand impersonation drive new wave of cyberattacks Cybercriminals are weaponizing AI by impersonating trusted brands like Claude and ChatGPT, and targeting OpenClaw registries with malicious packages to steal data and cryptocurrency. 23 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/asic-warns-of-ai-driven-deepfake-investment-scam-networks ### 2026-08-18: AI-powered phone scams impersonating Facebook experts Fraudsters are using AI-generated voices with Austrian accents to impersonate Facebook and Instagram business support to target individuals with fake marketing consultation offers. 4 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/ai-powered-phone-scams-impersonating-facebook-experts ### 2026-08-16: ASIC warns of rising AI-generated investment scams ASIC reports a surge in AI-driven investment scams, including deepfake videos of public figures like Michele Bullock and Alan Kohler used to promote unlicensed cryptocurrency platforms. 3 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/asic-warns-of-rising-ai-generated-investment-scams ### 2026-08-12: Bulgarian National Bank warns of AI-driven deepfake financial scams The Bulgarian National Bank warns of rising AI-driven deepfake scams where criminals clone voices and images to steal funds. Experts report massive daily losses across Europe due to these sophisticated tactics. 2 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/bulgarian-national-bank-warns-of-ai-driven-deepfake-financial-scams ### 2026-08-10: Deepfake scams use AI impersonation to target individuals and businesses Deepfake scams use AI voice and video cloning to impersonate trusted figures. Experts urge strict verification protocols and multi-layered technical defenses to combat these sophisticated hybrid threats. 4 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/deepfake-scams-use-ai-impersonation-to-target-individuals-and-businesses ### 2026-07-17: India's SEBI warns firms of AI‑driven 'Boss Scam' impersonation fraud SEBI warned Indian firms of the AI‑driven “Boss Scam,” where fraudsters impersonate CEOs via deepfakes and malware to steal funds, urging verification and reporting of incidents. 4 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/indias-sebi-warns-firms-of-aidriven-boss-scam-impersonation-fraud --- Cite as: Rise of sophisticated AI-driven deepfake impersonation scams. CLSTR, https://clstr.news/situations/ai-driven-deepfake-impersonation-scams