"Viewership Rates".. Tempts an Egyptian Young Man to Impersonate an Officer

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After weeks of an incident involving the arrest of a person impersonating a judge in Egypt, Egyptian authorities announced the arrest of a young man who impersonated a police officer on social media using artificial intelligence.

The Ministry of Interior stated in a statement today, Tuesday, that "in the context of uncovering the circumstances surrounding what was circulated on a personal account on social media, which included the account owner posting pictures of himself in police uniform and impersonating a police officer, the account owner has been arrested."

The ministry added that upon investigation, they were able to identify and arrest the individual managing the mentioned account, who turned out to have no connection to the police and works as a security guard residing in Minya Governorate in Upper Egypt.

The young man in question was arrested, and a mobile phone was seized from him, which upon examination contained evidence confirming his impersonation of a police officer.

In a shocking surprise, the accused admitted to fabricating the mentioned images using artificial intelligence technology, and that he published them on social media with the intention of "entertainment" to achieve high viewership rates.

The authorities confirmed that legal actions have been taken against the accused and that he has been presented to the public prosecution to undertake the investigation.

It is worth noting that last August, the authorities arrested a person who impersonated a judge to defraud citizens and referred him to urgent criminal trial, in a crime that captured the attention of the Egyptian public and was described as "unprecedented."

In an official statement, the prosecution said that its media center monitored a video circulating on social media, which included a plea for help from a citizen who was defrauded by a person who falsely claimed to be a judge.

The prosecution began investigations until they were able to identify the main accused, who was found in possession of a firearm and ammunition, a judicial scarf, forged identification cards, in addition to two mobile phones.

During the interrogation of the accused, he confessed to impersonating a judge to commit fraud against citizens, claiming he could expedite the allocation of housing units for them in exchange for financial amounts.

The accused admitted to filming and publishing videos and photos inside a court while wearing the judicial robe to lend credibility to his claims, guiding investigators to a second accused who participated in the filming and publishing, as well as some court staff who assisted him.