E-Paper
Kerala man loses ₹40k to AI-enabled deep-fake fraud
A 73-year-old man in India fell victim to a deepfake scam after receiving a call from someone impersonating his former colleague and asking for money. The scammer used deepfake technology to create a video call in which the impersonator's face and voice matched the victim's former colleague. The victim transferred money before realizing he had been tricked. Police have traced the money to an account in Maharashtra and are investigating further. This is the first reported case of a deepfake scam in India.
KOCHI: It was around 5:45 am on July 9 that PS Radhakrishnan, a resident of Kozhikode in Kerala, first received a call from an anonymous number. He ignored it. A few minutes later, when he checked WhatsApp, he found a slew of messages from the same number with the person identifying himseld as Radhakrishnan’s 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,” Radhakrishnan, 73 and retired from the central government firm, said over the phone.
And then, he voice-called me on WhatsApp, said Radhakrishnan. The man said that he was currently at the Dubai airport, waiting to board a flight to India. He had called early in the morning to ask for a financial favour. His sister-in-law was being prepped 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.
Though the caller sounded like his former colleague, Radhakrishnan relayed his fears about online scams and the danger of transferring such a large sum of money to an unknown account. 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. I didn’t ask any more questions and transferred the money ,” said Radhakrishnan.
Minutes later, when the same person called back and asked for more money to take care of hospital expenses, Radhakrishnan felt a doubt in his mind for the first time. “There was a hurried tone in his voice and I lied that my account didn’t have sufficient balance.”
His suspicions aroused, Radhakrishnan called his former colleague on the number he had saved; the man said he had not called at all. And Radhakrishnan realised that he had been tricked by a scamster who, police believe, sophisticated deep-fake technology to create the likeness of the former colleague’s face and voice on the video call. And of course, the scamster knew personal details of Radhakrishnan’s life .
The septuagenarian filed a complaint with the National Cyber Cell which was then transferred to the Kerala police. The police moved fast and traced the money to an account in RBL Bank in Maharashtra which was then frozen by authorities.
This was not an isolated incident, said Radhakrishnan. When he inquired with his former colleagues at Coal India, some of them said that they received similar messages and calls, even in Radhakrishnan’s name, asking for financial assistance. But they didn’t entertain the requests.
KE Byju, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Kozhikode, told reporters on Monday: “We understand that this was not a standalone scam. It was done by a group. The number was traced to Gujarat but we can’t say if those behind the scam are from there. Apart from Radhakrishnan’s money, there are more funds in that account. It was purportedly used for the scam.”
He said the police have filed a case and will submit the investigation report to the banks involved as part of procedures to reclaim the lost money.
This is the first time they are dealing with a cyberfraud using deep-fakes, the police officer said.
