Berlin Mayor Franciska Giffai spent half an hour talking via video link to a swindler who pretends to be Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko
Tagesspiegel wrote about this.
The conversation was agreed at the beginning of the month and took place on June 24. It was scheduled for 5:00 p.m., but at 6:45 p.m., the Berlin Senate Chancellery announced that communication had been interrupted. "The course of the conversation and the definition of the topic caused distrust on the part of Berlin. The conversation was interrupted prematurely," the office said.
The office believes that Giffai was communicating with a swindler. Apparently, it was a deepfake. The spokeswoman said the scammer had learned of the situation in Berlin and asked suspicious questions. He asked about Ukrainian refugees and whether they could receive social assistance fraudulently, as well as about the cooperation of the Berlin authorities in sending Ukrainian men to war.
Currently, the state security service of the State Criminal Police Department has launched an investigation.
Klitschko himself confirmed to Bild that he had not spoken to Giffai. He also said that a similar incident occurred in Madrid. There, too, the swindler pretended to be the mayor of Kyiv.