Kerala man loses ₹40,000 to AI-based deepfake scam

livemint.com:

₹40,000 after cybercriminals used deep fake AI technology and posed as a former colleague in a WhatsApp video call and sought money for his sister's surgery. Radhakrishnan first received a call from an anonymous number, which he ignored. Later, he found several messages from the same number on his WhatsApp with the person identifying himself as his former colleague at Coal India Ltd.

“We had worked together for nearly four decades and I knew him well. The display picture was his photo. He asked about my daughter and where she worked.

We texted for some time during which he shared his family photographs and asked about our common colleagues," reported Hindustan Times quoting Radhakrishnan as saying. After sometime, Radhakrishnan received voice-call from the same number. The caller said he was currently at the Dubai airport, waiting to board a flight to India.

He ask for a financial favour as his sister-in-law scheduled for an emergency surgery at a hospital in Mumbai and a sum of ₹40,000 had to be paid urgently as advance. He said the money had to be transferred via UPI to the phone of someone with her at the Mumbai hospital. The retired official wanted to be doubly sure that he was not being taken for a ride.

Immediately, the man said that he would video-call right away. “Seconds later, he called and looked exactly like my former colleague. Even though only his face was visible, it was clear.

His lips and eyes moved like any normal person as we talked in English. The call lasted just 25 seconds before it got cut. He later came back on a voice call and spoke about the urgency for money.