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For scammers, the deepfake is now a working tool

OVER about a year, a dentist in Tarlac handed P93 million to people she believed were working with the president. What convinced her was a video. On screen, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. looked to be endorsing the investment himself, his face and voice convincing enough that she believed it. But none of it was real. The video was a deepfake, made with artificial intelligence (AI). In October 2025, police arrested two suspects in Angeles City, Pampanga.

By the Truvace desk2 min read1 sourceJournalismTRV-2026-1780· cite & verify
For scammers, the deepfake is now a working tool

In brief

A dentist in Tarlac gave about P93 million over roughly a year to people she thought were connected to the president. She was persuaded by a video in which the president seemed to endorse the investment personally, but the footage was an AI deepfake. Police arrested two suspects in Angeles City, Pampanga, in October 2025.

The case shows how convincing synthetic video and audio of a public figure can give a scam credibility and drain a victim's savings over a long period. The excerpt does not say whether the money was recovered, how the suspects were charged, or how common such schemes are.

Main points

  1. The victim was a dentist in Tarlac who handed over P93 million over about a year.
  2. The video appeared to show the president endorsing the investment, with a face and voice convincing enough to be believed.
  3. The video was identified as a deepfake made with artificial intelligence.
  4. Police arrested two suspects in Angeles City, Pampanga, in October 2025.

The problem

An AI-made deepfake video that appeared to show the president endorsing an investment convinced a Tarlac dentist to hand over P93 million to scammers over about a year.

The rundown

The scam relied on trust in a head of state. The victim believed the people she was paying were working with the president, and the video served as the proof that persuaded her.

The payments were not a single transfer. The article says the money was handed over across about a year, which suggests a sustained deception rather than a one-off incident.

The arrests occurred in October 2025 in Angeles City, Pampanga. The supplied text names two suspects only as a pair and gives no further detail on their roles or the outcome of any case.

Sources

  1. JournalismThe Manila Times2026-10-17

The debate