Deepfake scams are reaching alarming new heights, with fraudsters tricking people out of an estimated $1.1 billion worldwide in 2025. This represents a threefold increase from approximately €304 million lost in 2024.
More than 80% of these sophisticated frauds occurred on social media platforms, with Facebook, WhatsApp, and Telegram being prime targets. The most profitable scams leveraged realistic video and audio to impersonate celebrities, business leaders, and even politicians to promote fraudulent investment schemes.
European leaders have fallen victim to these tactics. A deepfake video falsely showed Poland's President Karol Nawrocki endorsing a fraudulent investment platform. Similarly, a fabricated video of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz urged the public to join an investment scheme.
Romance fraud, where scammers use convincing audio and video to build fake relationships, is also on the rise. Victims are often persuaded to send money for fabricated medical emergencies or directed into bogus investment opportunities. One widely publicized case involved a French woman who lost over €800,000 after being convinced she was in a relationship with a deepfake of Brad Pitt, who was allegedly gravely ill.
While romance scams occur globally, key hubs for these operations are found in West Africa, including Nigeria and Ghana, and Southeast Asia, with Cambodia, Myanmar, and the Philippines being prominent locations. Although individual romance scam losses are typically smaller than investment scams, these highly personalized attacks can inflict severe psychological damage on victims.