Deepfake of Dr Rinki Murphy and Jack Tame promotes fake diabetes cure in New Zealand
A deepfake video impersonating Dr. Rinki Murphy and journalist Jack Tame was used to promote a fraudulent diabetes cure in New Zealand. The video appeared to be a TVNZ interview and targeted people with Type 2 diabetes.
Generative AI was used to synthesize a fraudulent TVNZ interview, using the trust in medical and journalistic figures to sell fake cures.
Key facts
- What
- A deepfake video impersonating Dr.
- Incident date
- Apr 30, 2025
- Who
- Scammers
- Failure mode
- Tool Misuse
- AI surface
- Voice Agent
- Severity
- High
What happened
Scammers deployed AI-generated videos on social media featuring the likenesses of Dr. Rinki Murphy and Jack Tame. These videos falsely claimed a medical breakthrough for diabetes to trick users into buying unapproved supplements. Several patients reportedly purchased the fake medicines, prompting warnings from the New Zealand Society for the Study of Diabetes.
What broke inside the model
- 01 · TriggerThe agent selects the correct tool.
- 02 · Model stepIt fills the call with the wrong arguments.
- 03 · Control gapNo validation checks the arguments first.
- 04 · FailureThe tool runs against the wrong target.
- 05 · ConsequenceThe wrong record, account, or system is hit.
At the tool call, the arguments point at the wrong target.
Generative AI tools were used to synthesize audio and video to impersonate trusted public figures. The system combined real footage with AI-generated content to create a convincing but fraudulent TVNZ interview.
What it cost
Sources
Cite this entry
https://failureindex.ai/failures/deepfake-rinki-murphy-jack-tame-promotesAI Failure Index. "Deepfake of Dr Rinki Murphy and Jack Tame promotes fake diabetes cure in New Zealand" (FI-0605). Realm Labs. https://failureindex.ai/failures/deepfake-rinki-murphy-jack-tame-promotes (indexed Jun 22, 2026).Data fields CC-BY 4.0, prose citation permitted. Incident ID FI-0605. Full dataset at /data.
Note from Realm Labs, the Index steward
How Realm would have caught this
- OmniGuard
- AgentRealm
Realm can inspect a tool call against the user's actual intent before it runs, and hold calls whose arguments or target do not match what was asked, so the wrong tool or the wrong arguments never reach the system of record.