The "Anticrisis" Deepfake Network Impersonating Mario Hernández
When Forbes Colombia investigated the deepfake network impersonating entrepreneur Mario Hernández, Revelum had found 24 fraudulent ads. In the three months since, 801 more have appeared, 825 in total. Here is how the Anticrisis scam worked, the cross-border infrastructure behind it, and what the numbers have done since.
A criminal network used AI-generated deepfake videos of Mario Hernández, one of Colombia’s best-known entrepreneurs, to promote a fictitious investment platform called “Anticrisis,” on infrastructure that was simultaneously impersonating senior bank executives across Latin America. When Forbes Colombia investigated and published the network on March 27, 2026, Revelum had found 24 fraudulent ads. In the three months since, we have detected 801 more, 825 in total.
Revelum picked up the operation while it was still forming. This is how the Anticrisis scam worked, the infrastructure that made it resilient, and what the numbers have done since.
The Scam: A Cloned Entrepreneur and a Fake Platform
Mario Hernández is the founder of one of Colombia’s most recognized luxury leather-goods brands, a name and face that carry decades of accumulated trust. That trust is exactly what the scammers cloned.
The deepfake videos presented Hernández appearing to endorse “Anticrisis,” a fictitious platform that promised automated-trading returns in exchange for a deposit. The ads ran on Facebook and Instagram and funneled anyone who clicked toward the platform’s sign-up flow. Hernández publicly disowned the content, calling it “completely false” and describing it as a form of digital fraud.
On the surface, it is a familiar pattern: a trusted figure, a fabricated endorsement, a fake financial product. What made this case worth a closer look was its scale and its structure.
The Scale: From 24 Ads to 825
When Forbes published on March 27, 2026, Revelum had found 24 fraudulent ads in the network. That was the snapshot the investigation captured, not the ceiling.
In the three months since, we have detected 801 more, 825 across the life of the campaign. The busiest single week came after the coverage, not before: the week of April 26, 2026, with 188 deepfake ads in seven days. The operation was caught early and reported prominently, and it kept scaling anyway, which says less about the reporting than about how these networks are built.
One Network, Many Faces
The Anticrisis ads pointed victims to a set of web domains. When Revelum mapped that infrastructure, the scope became clear: most of those same domains were simultaneously running campaigns impersonating other Latin American figures, including senior banking executives.
The people behind the Hernández deepfakes were not running a single scam. They were running a portfolio: the same machinery and domains pointed at multiple trusted figures at once, across more than one country, swapping the face on the video while the underlying operation stayed constant. This is the defining trait of organized deepfake fraud, the impersonated individual is interchangeable, but the operation is the asset, and it is the same dynamic visible in the parallel campaign impersonating David Vélez and across the broader landscape of deepfake attacks in Latin America.
What the Coverage Did, and Didn’t
The Forbes investigation did something genuinely useful: it taught a large audience what this scam looked like, which means some people recognized it and walked away. That is real protection, and we were glad our data helped build the story.
It is also worth being clear-eyed about the limits. A news story warns people; it doesn’t remove ads or reach the infrastructure producing them, which is why the count kept climbing afterward. We looked at that pattern across more than one campaign in what happens to a deepfake scam after it makes the news.
Where These Numbers Come From
The 825-ad count, the April peak, and the mapped infrastructure all come from Revelum’s own monitoring, the same detection Forbes Colombia drew on, carried forward well past the date of the article. That kind of record only exists if someone keeps watching after the news cycle ends, which is the difference between detecting a deepfake and removing it.
If you ever want to know what’s circulating with your name or face on it, we’re glad to look.
We’ll tell you what we’re seeing, typically within 24 hours.
This case was first investigated and published by Forbes Colombia, based on detection data from Revelum. See also our full media coverage of the Forbes and Teleamazonas investigations.
Revelum is a deepfake detection and removal service operating globally, with a focus on the Americas and Europe. We protect executives, public figures, political leaders, and organizations from AI-generated disinformation and fraud.
Disclaimer: This article is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Every situation is different, and we strongly recommend consulting a qualified legal professional for guidance specific to your circumstances. Revelum’s services are operational in nature and do not replace legal counsel.
Frequently asked questions
- What was the Anticrisis deepfake scam?
- Anticrisis was a fictitious investment platform promoted through AI-generated deepfake videos of Colombian entrepreneur Mario Hernández. The campaign ran on Facebook and Instagram, promising automated-trading returns to lure victims into depositing money. Revelum detected it and Forbes Colombia investigated and published it.
- How do we know this deepfake campaign was part of a larger criminal network?
- The scam relied on a set of web domains, and most of those same domains were simultaneously running campaigns that impersonated other Latin American figures, including senior bank executives. Shared infrastructure impersonating multiple high-profile targets at once is the signature of an organized, cross-border operation rather than an isolated scam.
- How many deepfake ads impersonating Mario Hernández has Revelum found?
- When Forbes Colombia published its investigation on March 27, 2026, Revelum had found 24 fraudulent ads. In the three months since, we have detected 801 more, for 825 across the life of the campaign. The busiest single week was the week of April 26, 2026, with 188 detected in seven days, after the coverage rather than before.
- What should I do if I see a deepfake investment ad of a public figure?
- Do not click, deposit, or share. Legitimate entrepreneurs and banks do not solicit personal investments through social media ads. Verify any such claim against trusted news sources, and report the content to the platform. If you or your organization is the figure being impersonated, a detection and removal partner can file and track takedowns.