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A man was duped of Rs. 40,000 when a video call from a "friend" turned out to be fake. Here's what happened in this AI-based scam...

(This video is created by an AI avatar of Brut journalist Labanya Maitra with her consent.)
Transcript
00:00A phone call from a long-lost friend turned out to be an AI-based deepfake scam in which
00:05this man lost Rs 40,000.
00:08One fine morning in July 2023, P.S. Radhakrishnan, a retired government official from Kerala's
00:14Korikod, received a message from an unknown number.
00:17The sender claimed to be his former colleague and friend, Venu Kumar.
00:21Soon, the two got on a call.
00:24They exchanged pleasantries and shared life updates with each other.
00:28Despite the call being from an unknown number, Radhakrishnan didn't suspect any foul play
00:33because the caller sounded exactly like his friend Venu Kumar.
00:36The two also talked about their common friends.
00:39Radhakrishnan said the caller was well aware of his personal details such as his daughter's
00:43name and her whereabouts.
00:45After a few minutes into the conversation, Venu Kumar made a request.
00:49He said he needed urgent money for his relative's surgery in Mumbai.
00:54At first, Radhakrishnan became a bit suspicious and asked Venu Kumar if they could do a video
00:59call to which the latter readily agreed.
01:02During the video call that lasted for 30 seconds, the caller kept their face very close to the
01:07phone camera as they chatted.
01:09Soon, Radhakrishnan got convinced and transferred Rs 40,000 to the account of the person whom
01:15the caller claimed to be the patient's attendant.
01:19After the transaction, Radhakrishnan got another call from the same man who thanked him and
01:24asked for an additional Rs 30,000.
01:27But this time, he turned down his request and disconnected the call.
01:32Radhakrishnan then decided to contact Venu Kumar on his actual phone number.
01:36He realised his suspicion wasn't unfounded when he spoke to the real Venu Kumar.
01:43Radhakrishnan was taken aback when he found out that Venu Kumar hadn't called him at all
01:47and the caller behind the unknown number was a scammer.
01:50He panicked and informed all his friend groups on WhatsApp about the scam.
01:54What shocked him even more was that many of his friends had also received similar calls.
01:59But how was the scamster able to impersonate his friend?
02:03The answer lies in deepfake technology.
02:06Deepfakes are artificial intelligence-generated audios, photographs and videos that look strikingly
02:11similar to the original.
02:12This technology is easily accessible to the public as there are scores of free softwares
02:17available online.
02:19One of the most common techniques used is face swapping.
02:23In June 2023, a Kerala YouTuber's deepfake video with Malayalam actors had gone viral
02:28on social media.
02:30He later said that he regretted creating the video as he felt it posed a huge safety concern.
02:35Critics have routinely cautioned against the dangers of this technology, including its
02:39usage in the creation of non-consensual pornography.
02:43Back in Koricode, the cybercrime police filed an FIR for cheating and identity theft on
02:49the basis of a complaint filed by Radhakrishnan.
02:52The police said it was the first case of an AI-based deepfake scam reported in Kerala.
02:57They were able to track the bank account of the accused and initiated the recovery process.

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