Judy Skene, an 86-year-old widow from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, lost $900,000 to a highly sophisticated cryptocurrency investment scam that utilized an AI-generated deepfake of Prime Minister Mark Carney.
The ordeal began in the summer of 2025 when Skene came across a Facebook advertisement featuring a digital impersonation of Carney. The deepfake claimed that an initial $350 cryptocurrency investment was fully backed by the Bank of Canada.
Trusting the familiar figure, Skene made the initial deposit. Soon after, fraudsters posing as investment advisors contacted her, falsely claiming her money had already tripled in value.
Over the following months, they manipulated her into transferring her entire life savings and even convinced her to take out a $300,000 mortgage on her condominium.
A fraudulent online dashboard showed fake rapid growth, but after the final transfer, the scammers cut off all communication, leaving Skene entirely destitute.