2026-09-20T23:22:28.549Z
- publishedAt:
Not provided→ 2026-08-18T00:00:00.000Z
SOURCE-LINKED INTELLIGENCE
Comedy Writer Bruce Vilanch Reportedly Sent Money in Purportedly AI-Assisted Scam Impersonating Fresh Air Host Terry Gross
Comedy writer Bruce Vilanch reportedly received highly personalized messages impersonating Terry Gross, host of NPR's Fresh Air, and sent money after being asked to support NPR. He discovered the invitation was fraudulent when Gross did not appear for the scheduled interview. Reporting described the broader fake-podcast scheme as likely AI-assisted, though no specific AI system was identified.
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- recordType
- incident-report
- evidenceStatus
- reported
- region
- Global
Reported occurrence date: 2026-08-18T00:00:00.000Z
Evidence & attribution
- AI Incident Database
- AI Incident Database · 2026-08-18T00:00:00.000Z
AI Incident Database, Responsible AI Collaborative; McGregor (2021), Preventing Repeated Real World AI Failures by Cataloging Incidents. Incident-specific contributor credits are available at each citation link. Metadata adapted; article text excluded.
License: CC BY-SA 4.0
First collected: 2026-09-19T22:50:59.123Z. This is not the publication date.
Observed changes
AIIC observation times, not verified publisher revision times. Up to eight recent revisions.