San Francisco ? An aspiring politician and video game designer who faked his own beheading by Iraqi militants awoke Saturday to learn that television stations around the world were showing his homemade video of the gruesome hoax.

Benjamin Vanderford, 22, said he posted the 55-second clip, which shows a knife sawing against his neck, on an online file-sharing network in May. It circulated in cyberspace before crossing over to major media, airing on Arab television.

“It was part of a stunt, but no one noticed it up until now,” Vanderford told The Associated Press at his San Francisco apartment early Saturday after being informed that much of the world was suddenly under the impression he had been decapitated.

Federal Bureau of Investigation agents interviewed Vanderford Saturday morning and an investigation has been opened, said FBI spokeswoman LaRae Quy. She said the agency initially became involved while trying to verify whether anyone had, in fact, been beheaded.

“We are collecting all the facts at this point in this process and we will pursue any and all legal avenues,” Quy said, adding that it would be up to the U.S. Attorney to determine what, if any, charges are filed.

Shrugging and taking a drink from a diet soda, Vanderford said he originally made the video as a way to draw attention to his campaign for a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. He filmed the footage at a friend’s house, using fake blood.

When his political aspirations waned, he decided to distribute the footage on Kazaa, which is used to trade millions of audio, video and software files daily, “to just make a statement on these type of videos and how easily they can be faked.”

Although the video went for months without drawing attention, it spread quickly after it was posted on a militant Islamic Web site that has previously carried claims of violent acts that eventually were verified.

The video was taken off the site Saturday after the hoax was discovered, and the organization that claimed to have posted it, the Islamic Global Media Center, said in a statement on the Web site that it had “deleted the fake tape and there are others which we are now making sure if they are true or not before hosting it.”

Benjamin Vanderford, 22, is interviewed at his home in San Francisco after a video aired that purportedly showed an American being decapitated in Iraq. Vanderford said Saturday that he videotaped the staged beheading at his friend's house, using fake blood, and began distributing the video on the Internet months ago in hopes of drawing attention to his one-time campaign for city supervisor.

The clip aired Saturday on the Arab television before Western news organizations, including The Associated Press and Reuters, published news of the unverified beheading.