Deepfake videos and AI images of Danske Bank's CEO and former CEO push fake investment platforms

What happened?

On 22 February 2025 Økonomisk Ugebrev reported that the top executives of A.P. Møller – Maersk, Nykredit and Danske Bank "bliver alle lige nu misbrugt til at svindle danskere" (are all currently being misused to defraud Danes) in videos circulating on social media, including Instagram, in which they appeared to give TV 2 interviews about a platform promising huge returns. The paper said the videos were deepfakes using artificial intelligence to match mouth movements to the spoken words, and that Danske Bank CEO Carsten Egeriis appeared with name and image. TV 2 said the hosts in the clips were not its own.[1]

Danske Bank's head of fraud prevention Niels Halse told the paper that although the videos were in Danish, they talked about the platform eradicating poverty in Denmark and paying for investors' children's education, "emner, der ikke er aktuelle i Danmark" (topics that are not relevant in Denmark). He said he believed the text was a general foreign script into which the software had inserted local currencies, and would not be surprised if CEOs of other large European companies were targeted. According to the paper, all three companies had handed the cases to their legal and technical departments to get the social-media platforms to stop the videos.[1]

On 27 June 2025 the Danish fact-checker TjekDet reported a Facebook ad in which an AI-generated video of former politician Jakob Ellemann-Jensen promised large daily returns, and found a similar fake video in which Jacob Aarup-Andersen, Danske Bank's former chief executive, acted as an investment promoter. TjekDet said the video's text still presented him as working at Danske Bank and its background was meant to look like a Danske Bank office, while the AI version of him also said he was chief executive of Carlsberg Group, his actual role.[2]

On 20 May 2026 FinansWatch reported that fake AI photos of Carsten Egeriis and other finance executives were circulating, naming Egeriis and Danmarks Nationalbank governors Christian Kettel Thomsen and Signe Krogstrup among the victims of the latest wave of so-called deepfake posts and calling it a well-known fraud tactic.[3]

When did it happen?

1. Feb 22, 2025

   Økonomisk Ugebrev reports deepfake videos of Danske Bank CEO Carsten Egeriis and the Maersk and Nykredit CEOs promoting an investment platform; Danske's head of fraud prevention comments.[1]

2. Jun 27, 2025

   TjekDet identifies an AI-generated video of former Danske Bank CEO Jacob Aarup-Andersen promoting investments against a Danske-style office background.[2]

3. May 20, 2026

   FinansWatch reports fake AI photos of Carsten Egeriis circulating in a new wave of deepfake posts.[3]

What was the impact?

• Customers: Danish social-media users targeted by the ads; no victims or losses linked to these specific ads have been reported.[1][2][3]
• Other: Misuse of the names and likenesses of Danske Bank's current and former chief executives, and of TV 2's branding, in investment-scam content.[1][2][3]

Severity 1 of 5: Impersonation of the bank's current and former chief executives aimed at the public; no losses linked to these ads have been quantified and no regulator action has been reported.

How did Danske Bank respond?

Danske Bank's head of fraud prevention Niels Halse commented on the February 2025 videos, saying the script was probably foreign-written with local currencies inserted. Økonomisk Ugebrev reported that Danske Bank, like Maersk and Nykredit, had passed the matter to its legal and technical departments to get the social-media platforms to remove the videos. No public statement by Danske Bank on the 2025 Aarup-Andersen video or the 2026 AI images was found as of 2026-10-21 (we checked the TjekDet and FinansWatch reports and Danske Bank's 2025 fraud-trend report).[1]

What was the outcome, and did regulators act?

No takedown outcome, arrest or regulatory action specific to these ads has been reported as of 21 October 2026. TjekDet noted that Facebook had already removed several of the ads it examined for breaching advertising rules. Danske Bank's March 2026 review of 2025 fraud trends says fraudsters increasingly used AI tools including deepfakes.[2][4]

1. Opdateret: Mærsk topchef misbrugt i avanceret svindel på AI video, Mærsk kræver Meta fjerner video news
   Økonomisk Ugebrev · Feb 22, 2025
   “Det er ikke kun Vincent Clerc, der bliver misbrugt til at forsøge at svindle danskere, men også CEO fra Nykredit Michael Rasmussen optræder med navn og billede og det samme gør CEO Carsten Egeriis fra Danske Bank.”
2. AI-video med Jakob Ellemann-Jensen lover stor økonomisk gevinst news
   TjekDet · Jun 27, 2025
   “Den video er også falsk, og svindlerne har tilsyneladende overset, at Jacob Aarup-Andersen ikke længere arbejder i Danske Bank, som det ellers fremgår af tekst i videoen, ligesom baggrunden skal ligne et Danske Bank-kontor.”
3. Falske AI-fotos af Carsten Egeriis og andre finans-topfolk florerer: En velkendt svindeltaktik news
   FinansWatch · May 20, 2026
   “Blandt ofrene for den seneste bølge af såkaldte deepfake- opslag er Danske Banks topchef Carsten Egeriis og nationalbankdirektørerne Christian Kettel Thomsen og Signe Krogstrup.”
4. Status, trends and fraud prevention in 2025 – How Danske Bank prevents fraud targeted at customers official
   Danske Bank · Mar 5, 2026
   “High-tech methods: Fraudsters increasingly used artificial intelligence and sophisticated digital tools, including deepfakes and fake websites, to improve and refine their attacks.”