World's Longest Serving Central Bank Chief Targeted by Deepfake

The world's longest-serving central bank governor, Romania's Mugur Isarescu, was the target of a deepfake video depicting the policymaker as touting fraudulent investments. From a report: The episode highlights a raft of disinformation designed to undermine the credibility of key institutions. The video echoed similar deepfakes in recent days, including one aimed at Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, seeking to back false financial investments. The National Bank of Romania issued a warning, reminding citizens that neither Isarescu nor the central bank make investment recommendations. The video uses the image and voice of the central banker -- one of the most trusted officials in Romania -- to pitch stock investments and offers viewers a link to a fraudulent platform.

'We are extremely concerned about the significant rise of these types of fraud attempts and we urge people to be very careful with every transaction that they make,' central bank spokesman Dan Suciu said. The videos coincide with a surge in interest for equity investments in Romania, fueled by the largest initial public offering in the country's history last year as well as above-average returns offered by the Bucharest Stock Exchange. Cyber-criminals have taken advantage of the trend in a country that ranks near the lowest in the European Union for financial mediation.

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