Where automated decisions went wrong

Uber fined nearly 825 million euros for automated driver blocking - Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens

Uber's automated system blocked drivers from the platform

Company involved

Uber

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What a $150,000 scam reveals about AI and elder fraud - Rolling Out

AI-generated deepfakes and voice cloning convinced a 63-year-old woman to send $150,000 to a scammer posing as a romantic partner

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Istanbul gang used AI to defraud European citizens from call center

A gang in Maslak, Istanbul, set up a call centre using AI-supported software to impersonate police, prosecutors, soldiers, and bank officials. They defrauded many Czech and European citizens, obtaining high amounts of money, which they laundered through bank accounts and crypto platforms. Turkish authorities, in cooperation with Czech judicial authorities, conducted simultaneous raids on three addresses, seizing digital materials and detaining 80 foreign suspects.

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AI-Generated Fake Investment Websites Target Australian Fraud Analyst

A fraud analyst, Leon, was targeted by scammers who used AI to create convincing fake websites for non-existent investment firms. The scammers posed as employees of Assent Advisory and directed him to elaborate sites for APPC Capital Singapore and Thackeray Mines and Minerals Inc., complete with AI-generated images and fake details. Leon recognised the scam, but the sophistication of the AI-generated content made him second-guess his own judgment. The incident highlights how AI is enabling more convincing investment scams.

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Flock lawsuit accuses tech company of exposing citizens to rogue police tracking - Top Class Actions

The system recorded and tracked the locations of vehicles and their owners without consent.

Company involved

Flock Group Inc.

AI system involved

Flock

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Scammers use AI-generated identities to steal $5.6 million in FTX debt claims fraud

In June 2024, a scam group posing as FTX debt claimants allegedly used AI-generated identities and manipulated facial appearances to defraud two companies of more than $5.6 million. The perpetrators accessed FTX customer data through public bankruptcy filings or a 2023 data breach at Kroll. Blockchain analysis traced the stolen funds through Binance, CoinEx, and Gate.io. The incident remains unresolved.

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Rotterdam's Welfare Fraud Algorithm Discriminated by Gender and Ethnicity

The city of Rotterdam deployed a machine learning algorithm built by Accenture to flag welfare recipients for fraud investigation. The system used personal data including gender, language, and subjective caseworker notes to generate risk scores, leading to investigations that disproportionately targeted women and migrants. An external review found the algorithm discriminatory and inaccurate, prompting the city to suspend its use in 2021. The system's opacity made it nearly impossible for those flagged to challenge the decisions.

Company involved

City of Rotterdam

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FTC Orders Evolv to Stop Overstating Effectiveness of AI Gun Detection Tech

Evolv, a company selling AI-powered weapons detection systems, has been ordered by the FTC to stop making misleading claims about its Evolv Express product. The FTC alleged that the technology is essentially a metal detector with unproven AI, and that Evolv falsely claimed it could detect guns while ignoring harmless items. A pilot in New York City subways resulted in over 100 false positives and no guns detected. The settlement requires Evolv to allow educational customers to cancel their contracts and prohibits further misrepresentations.

Company involved

Evolv

AI system involved

Evolv Express

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Schufa's Black-Box Scoring Unfairly Penalises Consumers with Positive Credit Data

An investigation by SPIEGEL and BR Data reveals that Schufa's credit scoring algorithm often assigns poor risk scores to consumers with only positive credit information. One consumer, Sven Drewert, was denied a credit card limit increase despite having no negative entries. The algorithm uses limited data, and its secret formula can lead to arbitrary categorisations, affecting access to loans, phone contracts, and housing. The system's opacity and potential biases raise concerns about fairness and accountability.

Company involved

Schufa Holding AG

AI system involved

Schufa Score

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FunkSec Ransomware Group Targets 85 Victims with AI-Assisted Double Extortion

A new ransomware group called FunkSec has claimed over 85 victims since late 2024, using AI-assisted tools to develop its encryptor. The group employs double extortion tactics, stealing data and encrypting files, and demands ransoms as low as $10,000. Researchers suspect the group consists of novice actors recycling leaked data from previous hacktivist leaks, and some members have ties to hacktivist activities. The group also sells stolen data to third parties for $1,000 to $5,000.

Company involved

FunkSec

AI system involved

FunkSec

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French regulator fines Clearview AI €20 million for privacy breaches

France's privacy watchdog CNIL fined US facial recognition firm Clearview AI €20 million for unlawfully collecting and processing facial images of individuals without consent. The company scraped billions of images from websites and social media, selling access to law enforcement. Clearview AI denied being subject to EU law and refused to delete the data, claiming it was impossible to determine French residency from public photos. The CNIL ordered the firm to stop collecting data and delete existing data within two months or face daily fines.

Company involved

Clearview AI

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Google sues Chinese gang over AI-powered fraud targeting Americans

Google has filed a lawsuit against a Chinese cybercrime group called Outsider Enterprise, alleging it used Google's Gemini AI to create hundreds of fake websites impersonating companies and government services. The group allegedly sent millions of phishing messages to Android users, defrauding hundreds of thousands of Americans of millions of dollars. Google is coordinating with the FBI and wireless carriers to dismantle the network. The lawsuit, filed in the Southern District of New York, seeks an injunction to take down the operation.

Company involved

Outsider Enterprise

AI system involved

Gemini

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Montenegro police warn of rising AI identity abuse in online fraud

Montenegrin police say AI is fuelling a rise in identity abuse by online fraudsters, using deepfake videos of public figures to promote bogus remedies and investment schemes. Surgeon and MP Vladimir Dobricanin found a manipulated video of himself apparently endorsing eyedrops and other products, while Bosnian fact-checkers reported similar misuse of statements to lure people into cryptocurrency scams. Victims reported 42 online scams in 2025 with financial losses of around 300,000 euros, but authorities say investigations are complex and often lengthy due to the use of servers abroad and encryption. Experts called for stronger technical capacities, international cooperation, and faster platform responses to tackle the problem.

Company involved

Limited Charm

AI system involved

Deepfake social media advertisements

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France: CNAF's discriminatory risk-scoring algorithm must be stopped

Amnesty International and coalition partners filed a complaint with the Council of State against CNAF's risk-scoring algorithm used to detect benefit overpayments. The algorithm assigns risk scores based on criteria that discriminate against vulnerable groups, including those with disabilities, single parents, and low-income households. The complaint alleges the system violates human rights to equality and privacy. The EU AI Act's social scoring ban may apply, but its definition remains unclear.

Company involved

CNAF

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Dutch police predictive policing project in Roermond faces discrimination allegations

Amnesty International's report alleges that the Dutch police's Sensing predictive policing project in Roermond uses algorithms that result in automated discrimination and mass surveillance. The system assesses crime risk for individuals and locations, potentially targeting marginalized communities. The report calls for accountability and human rights safeguards.

Company involved

Dutch police

AI system involved

Sensing project

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Dutch government continued SyRI welfare fraud profiling after ban

The Dutch government deployed the SyRI algorithm to profile welfare recipients in low-income neighborhoods, despite a 2020 court ruling that the system violated EU human rights. The algorithm flagged thousands of parents for fraud based on illegal risk factors such as dual nationality, leading to false accusations, bankruptcy, and trauma. The government has announced an external review of the practices.

Company involved

Ministry of Social Affairs of the Netherlands

AI system involved

SyRI

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Europol cracks down on network using deepfake ads for crypto fraud

Europol and national authorities in Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, and Israel arrested two people in November as part of a crackdown on a criminal network that used fraudulent online ads and AI-generated deepfake videos to lure victims into fake cryptocurrency investment platforms. The network allegedly laundered 700 million euros ($816 million) through the scheme, which Europol described as operating on an 'industrial' scale. The arrests were the second phase of an operation that had already led to nine arrests in October. The article does not name the suspects or firms targeted.

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DeepScore markets facial and voice analysis app for trustworthiness scoring despite experts' doubts

DeepScore, a Tokyo-based company, is marketing an app that uses facial and voice recognition to score people's trustworthiness for lenders and insurers in Japan, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines. The company says the app can detect deception with 70 per cent accuracy, but researchers and privacy advocates say there is no reliable scientific basis for such judgments and warn of discrimination and privacy harms. The chief executive said the system is only one part of lenders' and insurers' decision-making and that people can choose not to use it. Critics respond that an unequal balance of power makes consent difficult.

Company involved

DeepScore

AI system involved

DeepScore

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Lemonade backtracks on tweet claiming AI scans customer faces for fraud

Lemonade, an insurance firm, posted a tweet claiming it uses AI to detect non-verbal cues in customer videos to deny claims. After backlash comparing the practice to phrenology, the company deleted the tweet and denied using AI to deny claims based on facial characteristics. Lemonade stated it uses facial recognition only to flag claims submitted under different identities, which are then reviewed by human investigators.

Company involved

Lemonade

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FTC settles with IntelliVision over deceptive facial recognition claims

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) took action against IntelliVision Technologies Corp. for making false, misleading, or unsubstantiated claims about its AI-powered facial recognition software. The company allegedly claimed its software had one of the highest accuracy rates on the market and was free of gender or racial bias, without supporting evidence. The FTC also alleged that IntelliVision did not train its software on millions of faces as claimed, but on images of approximately 100,000 individuals. Under a proposed consent order, IntelliVision is prohibited from making such misrepresentations without competent and reliable testing.

Company involved

IntelliVision Technologies Corp.

AI system involved

IntelliVision facial recognition software

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Met Police buys £3m retrospective facial recognition system

The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) has awarded a £3 million, four-year contract to Northgate Public Services for a new retrospective facial-recognition (RFR) system to be deployed within three months. RFR processes biometric information from historic CCTV, social media, and other images to identify suspects and missing persons, operating retroactively unlike live facial recognition. The procurement was approved by the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime in August 2021. The MPS states that human-in-the-loop decision-making will be used, but digital rights groups and a former biometrics commissioner have raised concerns about potential discrimination, overrepresentation of marginalised groups in watch lists, and lack of a legislative framework.

Company involved

Metropolitan Police Service

AI system involved

Retrospective facial-recognition software

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Face recognition bypass used to register shell companies for tax fraud in Shanghai

In a major tax fraud case in Shanghai, criminals used face recognition cracking techniques to register shell companies on government platforms. They purchased high-resolution photos and used apps to create fake videos, then used modified phones to bypass face recognition authentication. The scheme resulted in fraudulent invoices totaling over 500 million yuan. The case was prosecuted by the Shanghai procuratorate.

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IRCC uses AI triage for Temporary Resident Visa applications

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) uses an AI system called Advanced Analytics to triage Temporary Resident Visa applications from India and China. The system categorizes applications into tiers, with Tier 1 approved automatically and others sent to human officers. Critics allege the system lacks transparency and may introduce bias, leading to visa refusals without clear rationale. The author, a Canadian immigration lawyer, is filing Federal Court cases on behalf of clients affected by refusals.

Company involved

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC)

AI system involved

Advanced Analytics Triage of Overseas Temporary Resident Visa Applications

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California EDD's automated fraud detection wrongly suspended 600,000 legitimate unemployment claims

In January 2021, the California Employment Development Department used Thompson Reuters automated batch review software to flag 1.1 million unemployment claims as potentially fraudulent. EDD stopped payments on those claims without prior notice. Later, over 600,000 were confirmed as legitimate after claimants used ID.me to verify their identity. The incident highlights the trade-off between fraud prevention and timely benefit access.

Company involved

California Employment Development Department (EDD)

AI system involved

Thompson Reuters Automated Batch Review

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