Angela Lipps
Angela Lipps | |
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| Known for | lost her home, job and dog due to a facial recognition false positive |
Angela Lipps is an American woman, from Tennessee, who was arrested, charged, and jailed, for six months, based solely on a facial recognition match.[1] During the time she was in jail Lipps lost her home, her job, and her dog.
US Marshals arrested Lipps, at her home, on July 14, 2025.[2] She was charged with four counts of bank fraud, for using false identification to withdraw funds in North Dakota.
Lipps was not brought to North Dakota until 108 days after her arrest.[2] North Dakota law enforcement officials first interviewed her on December 19, 2025, when her lawyer was able to use her bank records to prove she had been in Tennessee at the time of the alleged crimes.
A judge ordered her release from custody on December 24, 2025.[3] Lipps was wearing the summer clothes she was wearing when she was arrested in Tennessee, in July, when North Dakota law enforcement officials released her on Christmas Eve. Lipps had no money, and had to rely on her defense attorney to rent her a hotel room. A GoFundMe paid her travel expenses for her trip back to Tennessee.
As of March 30, 2026[update] police officials have not issued an apology, because, according to Fargo Police Chief David Zibolski, "the police were still investigating the bank frauds".[3]
References
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Marina Dunbar (2026-03-12). "Tennessee grandmother jailed after AI facial recognition error links her to fraud". The Guardian. Retrieved 2026-04-01.
Angela Lipps, 50, spent nearly six months in jail after Fargo police identified her as a suspect in an organized bank fraud case using facial recognition software, according to south-east North Dakota news outlet InForum. Lipps told the outlet she had never been to North Dakota and did not commit the crimes.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1
Matt Henson (2026-03-12). "AI error jails innocent grandmother for months in Fargo fraud case". InForum. Archived from the original on 2026-03-12.
Greenwood immediately asked Lipps for her bank records. Once they were in hand, Fargo police met with him and Lipps at the Cass County jail on Dec. 19. She had already been in jail for more than five months. It was the first time police ever interviewed her.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1
Michael Levenson (2026-03-30). "Woman Spent Five Months in Jail After A.I. Linked Her to Bank Fraud Case". ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-04-01.
On Dec. 24, 2025, a judge dismissed the charges against Ms. Lipps, and she was released from jail. Local defense lawyers donated money for food and a hotel room before a volunteer drove her to Chicago to meet her family a couple of days later.