Mukesh Ambani, Virat Kohli selling investment schemes? How scammers use AI deepfakes to con you

You may have come across videos featuring prominent businessmen or celebrities like Virat Kohli, Mukesh Ambani, or Ratan Tata promoting some type of investment which promises unbelievable returns. Are these famous people really endorsing these shady schemes?. Well no, you may have just stumbled across an AI-generated deepfake video, a method often used by scammers to con people out of their hard-earned money.

According to a report by cyber security firm CloudSEK, online scammers create deepfake of famous Indian celebrities and business tycoons such as Mukesh Ambani, Virat Kohli, Ratan Tata, among others, to trick people into downloading malicious gaming apps on their phones and have even created a fake Play Store to push these apps.

“Scammers are not only using deepfake videos to lure people to download the dubious app but have also created a fake Play Store to appear genuine,” the CloudSEK report revealed.

Manipulated news clips

As per the report, the fraudsters register over 1,000 phishing domains on a daily basis to con people in over seven countries, including India and Pakistan. Besides creating deepfakes of prominent personalities, the scammers also manipulated footage of famous Indian news anchors like Sudhir Chaudhary, Arnab Goswami, and others, where they are falsely portrayed as endorsing these deceptive apps.

CloudSEK said that by leveraging its deepfake detection technology, its research team has identified a series of deceptive campaigns targeting users in India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, and beyond for promoting a fake gaming app.

The cyber-security firm revealed that using deepfakes, prominent figures such as Mukesh Ambani, Virat Kohli, Anant Ambani, Neeraj Chopra, and international icons like Christiano Ronaldo, James Donaldson (Mr. Beast), Deadpool aka Ryan Reynolds, and Pakistani actress Hania Aamir are shown promoting these dubious apps where users are lured by the false promise of receiving substantial financial gains through a relatively small initial investment.

The apps claim that users can make significant financial gains by simply playing the games it offers and making token investments.

One such app or game you may have come across is called ‘Aviator’ which prompts users to make a small deposit, promising that they would make huge profits.

The app’s promotional video depicts an airplane flying with a multiplier of 17, 50, or 150, claiming that users automatically earn money by investing 1,000 Kenyan shillings. The video lures video to download the Aviator app and sign up for to receive a bonus, however, once you pay them, your money is lost forever.

Virat Kohli most targeted figure

According to CloudSEK’s report, Virat Kohli is the most frequently targeted personality used for making deepfakes in South Asia. “The videos often start with manipulated footage of respected news anchors, including Shweta Singh (Aaj Tak), Arnab Goswami (Republic TV), and Sudhir Chaudhary. These fake broadcasts claim that the mobile application has been helping people from all walks of life earn money easily,” it said.

The report said that the scammers initially targeted the European Union in early September 2024 and later expanded their criminal operation to India and various other regions, including Nigeria, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, and Southeast Asia.

Here’s how to detect a deepfake video:

Cyber-security companies have detailed how a regular person might be tell the difference between a real and a deepfake video by looking for these telltale signs:

• • Unnatural movement of eyes, the subject in the video doesn’t blink
  • Robotic voice
  • Facial expressions which seem unnatural
  • Poorly morphed faces
  • Disproportionate or unnatural body shapes
  • Synthetic-looking hair
  • Unrealistic skin colours
  • Abnormal head and body positions
  • Head movements are inconsistent
  • Lighting and colour discrepancies
  • Poor lip-sync
  • Blurry, misaligned visuals.
  • Background noise

So if you come across a video of Virat Kohli, Ratan Tata, or Mukesh Ambani, endorsing any investment scheme or similar, do look for these discrepancies to determine if the clip is a deepfake. Stay safe, stay alert!