Deepfake abuse has been warned by many tech experts across the world as a looming danger. Despite the caution, there are still stranger cases that keep popping up. A recent report now claims that an American woman was arrested by the police on charges of using deepfakes in an effort to kick rivals out of her daughter’s cheerleading squad.

According to the authorities, Raffaela Spone, a resident in Pennsylvania, U.S., sent the team’s coaches photos and videos manipulated by AI to show them drinking, smoking and naked.

The police were informed of this situation initially in July 2020 when one of the victims received messages from an unknown number. However, that seemed to have led other victims to come forward with similar stories.

Start off your week with tech news recap and trending conversations in your inbox

Enter valid email-id

Subscribe

I prefer it on Telegram

The messages were eventually linked back to Spone after tracing the numbers and pinpointing them to an IP address used in her home. A search of the woman’s smartphone later revealed evidence tying her to the numbers.

As a result, Raffaela Spone currently faces charges of cyber harassment of child and linked offences. The town’s police haven’t taken action against the suspect’s daughter since there’s no evidence linking her as an accomplice.

There are a number of social networks like Facebook, Twitter and TikTok that have taken action against deepfakes by banning them. This is all in an effort to reduce the likelihood of them spreading and being used against individuals.

Unfortunately, this hasn’t proven to prevent direct harassment campaigns. This is mostly attributed to the ease involved in producing the fakes.