In 2025, deepfake technology stopped being a curiosity. It became a weapon — used to destroy reputations, influence custody rulings, or reduce alimony.
1. London, January 2025 – a fake death-threat voice message
A mother in a custody dispute submitted a 2-minute voice recording to the court.
In the audio, the father allegedly threatened to kill her and their 5-year-old son.
The voice was perfect — AI-generated using old WhatsApp voice messages via ElevenLabs.
The court initially issued a no-contact order against the father.
What did the forensic expert discover?
- spectrogram analysis showed unnatural transitions between vowels,
- no compression artifacts typical for authentic WhatsApp recordings,
- file metadata indicated creation in January 2025, not on the alleged date.
Outcome:
The evidence was rejected.
The mother was charged with fabricating evidence (suspended sentence),
and the father regained full parental rights.
2. California, April 2025 – deepfake infidelity + fake bank statements
During a USD 2 million divorce, the wife submitted a 45-second video allegedly showing her husband spending a night at a hotel with a lover.
She also attached “bank statements” showing transfers to that woman.
The deepfake was created using DeepFaceLab + Roop.
The documents were generated with ChatGPT + Canva.
What did the forensic analysis reveal?
- unnatural blinking and inconsistent facial shadows,
- lip-sync anomalies when played at 0.5× speed,
- the PDF bank statements lacked original metadata layers and contained an error in the bank’s footer.
Outcome:
All evidence was dismissed.
The wife was ordered to pay legal fees and a USD 20,000 penalty.
The case became a precedent — as of May 2025, California requires authentication certificates for video evidence in family court.
3. Poland – earlier cases that foreshadow what divorce courts will face in 2025 and beyond
In Poland, AI-generated voice and video evidence is already appearing in family, divorce and defamation cases. The key examples include:
• Fake “grandson” and “bank employee” calls (2023–2024)
In criminal cases (e.g., Wrocław, Warsaw), perpetrators used voice cloning to impersonate relatives or bank staff.
In one case (art. 286 KK), a forensic phonoscopy expert confirmed the voice was synthetic — the recording was rejected and became evidence of manipulation.
• Manipulated recordings in defamation cases (2019–2023 → ongoing in 2025)
Courts in Warsaw and Katowice received edited or partially replaced audio/video files.
In a 2022 case (art. 212 KK), an expert concluded the audio was generated from voice samples — the court classified it as a “proto-deepfake” and dismissed it.
• Deepfake pornography and blackmail (2021–2022 → 2025)
Police in Kraków and Lublin handled cases where women’s faces were placed onto explicit material.
In 2025, this pattern shifted into divorce disputes — fake “infidelity” videos are increasingly being submitted as evidence.
How to protect yourself from deepfake evidence in a divorce case
Never accept recordings or videos at face value.
Order a forensic examination immediately — the sooner, the more effective and less costly.
Always request:
- the original files, not screenshots or re-converted MP4s,
- metadata,
- source device access if possible,
- expert verification of compression artifacts and generative AI traces.
AI always leaves a fingerprint.
In 2025, every audio or video file in a family case should be examined by a digital forensic specialist.
Need a deepfake analysis?
As a digital forensics expert and court-appointed IT examiner, I specialize in detecting AI-generated fake audio/video.
I conduct analyses in compliance with ISO 27037 and Amped Authenticate, delivering clear, legally defensible reports.
Don’t let a fake recording destroy your life.
The truth always leaves traces — and so does AI.
Author: Piotr Wichrań — Digital Forensics Expert, Court Expert Witness, Licensed Detective, Cybersecurity Specialist