#impersonation

#impersonation

The SBU says the enemy has ramped up these operations, using phones, messaging apps, and even online dating platforms to trick people into carrying out dangerous acts. The SBU said, "During such operations, Russian agents telephone or message people, posing as employees of the SBU, the Main Intelligence Directorate, NABU, the National Police, and other law enforcement agencies." "The Security Service of Ukraine once again calls on citizens to maintain information hygiene and to exercise caution in contacts with unknown individuals," the SBU added.

"Sarita" on Instagram appears to be the account the agency reported, showing a blonde woman wearing a Massachusetts State Police uniform, complete with a badge and a gun. In the pictures posted since Dec. 29, her name tags reads "Sara," "St. Pay," and "St. May." In one, the letters are unintelligible. The account has more than 100,000 followers as of Sunday evening. MSP declined to confirm the account.

Tools to create tailored, even personalised, scams leveraging, for example, deepfake videos of Swedish journalists or the president of Cyprus are no longer niche, but inexpensive and easy to deploy at scale, said the analysis from the AI Incident Database. It catalogued more than a dozen recent examples of impersonation for profit, including a deepfake video of Western Australia's premier, Robert Cook, hawking an investment scheme, and deepfake doctors promoting skin creams.

From April 2023 to February 2024, the U.S. attorney's office said Nguyen sent emails threatening to kill a man identified in court documents as T.H. and his wife and included screenshots of texts discussing hiring a hit man for $15,000 to kill T.H.'s wife. Nguyen also stalked five employees at the U.S. Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, sometimes impersonating T.H.'s wife and threatening the consulate, federal prosecutors said.

A mysterious man, dressed as an FBI agent, showed up to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn in an apparent attempt to free Luigi Mangione, the man who has been charged with killing health insurance CEO Brian Thompson. As the Associated Press reports, the impostor was later identified as 36-year-old Mark Anderson, who has previously been arrested for drug possession and has disclosed ongoing mental health issues.

On Wednesday evening, a man named Mark Anderson arrived at the Metropolitan Detention Center, where Mangione is detained, and falsely claimed he was an FBI agent with paperwork signed by a judge that authorized the release of a specific MDC detainee, charging papers say. That detainee, according to a law enforcement source, was 27-year-old Luigi Mangione, who stands accused of gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Midtown Manhattan in late 2024.

As reported by local news network WTAE 4, according to a recently filed criminal complaint, 35-year-old William Gregory allegedly broke into a house in the Beltzhoover neighborhood outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and began shouting that he was an ICE agent and demanded that the reportedly Hispanic family show him identifying paperwork. He was carrying a large pocket knife and threatened a 17-year-old boy living in the home as he tried to steal a PlayStation console and grabbed the boy's phone.

Police arrested a 23-year-old man, Jauan Wright, for allegedly impersonating a woman online in order to get explicit nude images from an unnamed student at Louisiana State University (LSU) in the capital city of Baton Rouge, WBRZ reported. The student said he met Wright online, initially believing him to be a woman. Only after sharing nude images of himself did he discover that Wright was a man, he told the LSU police department in a complaint filed on November 23.

His attorney, Richard Ceballos, filed a motion Nov. 24 asking to continue the hearing to Jan. 28, citing "a breakdown in the attorney-client relationship." "The reason for the continuance is that Mr. Huffaker has advised me that he no longer wants me to represent him and has taken affirmative steps to obtain new counsel for his sentencing hearing," Ceballos wrote. "Furthermore, Mr. Huffaker has expressly directed me not to file any sentencing memorandum on his behalf until he has secured new counsel."

During the search of the vehicle, officers recovered a firearm, counterfeit government identification, drug paraphernalia and additional evidence suggesting the driver may have been impersonating a federal agent," Alameda police wrote in a Facebook post Wednesday night. Police posted several pictures of the recovered items, which include a black tactical vest with the word 'Agent' written on the back, a black handgun, handcuffs, three gold law enforcement-style badges, and multiple ID cards.

"inappropriate personal questions,"

David Brian Pearce, a Los Angeles man who lured women into his orbit by claiming he was a Hollywood producer, was sentenced Wednesday to 146 years to life for the fatal overdose of a model and her friend, as well as the sexual assaults of multiple women over 16 years. Pearce, 43, was convicted in February on two counts of first-degree murder in the overdose deaths of 24-year-old model Christy Giles and 26-year-old Hilda Marcela Cabrales-Arzola.

Peel Regional Police say they are receiving reports of scam calls that appear to come from their non-emergency line largely targeting members of Asian communities. The caller claims to be a police officer, police said in a news release Thursday. "The caller references personal information about the victim to establish trust and extract further sensitive information, including banking details," police said.

Keanu Reeves pays a Seattle-based AI company thousands monthly to track and shut down impersonators on platforms like TikTok and Meta, protecting his image.

Acting U.S. Attorney for Minnesota Joe Thompson described the incident as a political assassination, a term rarely used in the U.S., highlighting the rise of violent political extremism.

In the manipulated video, Dr. Vicki Belo is falsely seen endorsing a wrinkle-reducing serum, which she has not approved or promoted.