Fraudsters are using AI cloning in scams, InvestigateTV+ reports

By Splitfeed EditorialLast updated Sep 26, 2026, 19:17 UTC

On September 24, 2026, InvestigateTV+ published a report stating that fraudsters are actively using AI cloning technology to run scams. The report was distributed simultaneously across six regional television stations, including Valley News Live, WFSB, KBTX News 3, AZ Family, KTIV, and KTTC. Beyond that distribution structure and the core claim, the report does not supply specific figures on the scale of losses, the number of victims, or the particular AI tools being used.

AI voice and image cloning have been a documented concern for several years, with the technology becoming cheaper and more accessible over time. The significance of this report lies less in the novelty of the underlying threat and more in the fact that it is reaching mass regional television audiences simultaneously, suggesting the problem is being treated as mainstream consumer news rather than a niche technology story. What remains genuinely in dispute is how widespread these scams are, how effective existing fraud detection and law enforcement responses have been, and whether platform or regulatory intervention could meaningfully reduce the harm.

None of the three camps have published reactions to this specific story yet. The Pro-AI camp would typically argue that cloning-based fraud is a misuse problem, not an indictment of the technology itself, and that better authentication tools, many of them also AI-powered, are the appropriate response. The Anti-AI camp would typically point to stories like this as evidence that the deployment of voice and image cloning technology has outpaced safeguards, putting ordinary people at risk. The Middle Ground camp would typically call for targeted regulation and industry standards around synthetic media disclosure, while stopping short of demanding broad restrictions on the underlying technology.

The argument will sharpen if regulators or legislators respond to reporting like this with proposed rules around synthetic voice and image use, or if a major platform announces detection measures with specific performance claims. Any enforcement action naming a particular AI tool in connection with fraud cases would also move the debate in a more concrete direction.