Deepfakes are on the minds of many in India this week after a pair of Bengaluru residents lost 26 lakh Rupees (about US$31,000) in an Indian online stock trading scam.
The two fell victim to deepfakes of Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy and Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani, according to a Times of India report.
One of the two lost an additional 57.2 lakh Rupees (almost US$68,000) on a work-from-home job scam.
Murthy had issued a public warning last December that there were deepfakes circulating that claimed to be him and that urged people to invest in an online trading app, and The Cyber Express has reported on deepfakes involving Ambani and other well-known figures.
Indian Online Stock Trading Scam Detailed
One of the victims, identified by the Times as Veena KG, 57, a resident of Banashankari, told south CEN crime police that she lost Rs 67.1 lakh (more than US$79,000) between Sept. 23 and Oct. 20. On Sept. 23, she saw a deepfake video of Murthy on Facebook promoting the “FX Road” stock trading platform. She contacted them and heard back from someone at info[at]fxroad[.]com who encouraged her to invest in the platform.
She invested Rs 1.4 lakh from a credit card, saw returns of Rs 8,363, invested another Rs 6.7 lakh but never received the profits. She later fell victim to a work-from-home scam on Instagram. When she realized she was being cheated, she contacted cyber helpline 1930 and filed a complaint with police.
The second victim, Asok Kumar TS, 63, of Rajapura of Anekal in Bengaluru Rural, fell for a deepfake video of Murthy and Ambani that also promoted FX Road.
Police said the scam had been widely reported, and urged people to be wary of potential deepfakes from prominent people.
Deepfakes Hit Companies Too
It’s not just small investors who get hit by deepfake scams. A multinational company in Hong Kong fell victim to a US$25 million scam earlier this year, and deepfakes also targeted U.S. and Indian elections this year and have been wielded in other sensitive situations like the Russia-Ukraine war. The Delhi High Court recently ordered the Union government to look into the growing matter of deepfakes and report back later this month.
To help companies and other organizations fight the growing menace of deepfakes, Cyble recently began offering its threat intelligence customers a real-time deepfake detection and takedown tool. The tool combines AI-powered monitoring and detection with real-time alerts so organizations can quickly identify and remove deepfake threats.
