When the Video Call Is Not Who You Think It Is
In 2024, a Bengaluru man received a video call from someone who looked and sounded exactly like his boss. The caller asked him to transfer ₹40 lakh urgently for a client emergency. He transferred it. His actual boss knew nothing about it. This was a deepfake — an AI-generated video so realistic that it fooled a trained professional.
Deepfake fraud is no longer a distant threat. It has arrived in India, and it is targeting ordinary people, not just corporate executives.
What Exactly Is a Deepfake?
A deepfake uses artificial intelligence to superimpose one person’s face and voice onto another’s body in real time or in a recorded video. Until two years ago, creating a convincing deepfake required expensive hardware and hours of processing. Today, freely available apps can do it in minutes using just a few photos from social media. Your WhatsApp profile picture, your Instagram posts, and your YouTube videos provide all the raw material a scammer needs.
The Most Common Deepfake Scams Hitting India
Family Emergency Scam: You receive a video call from your son, daughter, or spouse in apparent distress — they have been in an accident or arrested and need money immediately. The face and voice match perfectly. Always hang up and call the person directly on their known number before sending any money.
Boss/CEO Fraud: A video or voice message from your manager or a senior executive asking for urgent fund transfers or sensitive information. Verify any unusual financial request through a second channel, no matter how convincing the source appears.
Fake Celebrity Endorsements: Deepfake videos of Mukesh Ambani, Narendra Modi, or Bollywood stars recommending investment schemes or cryptocurrency platforms. These have gone viral on WhatsApp and Telegram. If a celebrity is endorsing an investment scheme via a forwarded video, assume it is fake.
Sextortion Deepfakes: Scammers create fabricated explicit videos using your photos and threaten to share them unless you pay. This is a growing category in India, particularly targeting young people.
How to Spot a Deepfake
Watch for unnatural blinking or eye movement — early deepfakes often get this wrong. Look at the edges of the face and hairline for blurring or flickering. Notice whether lip sync is slightly off from the audio. In video calls, ask the person to turn their head sharply to the side — deepfake renderers struggle with extreme angles. Ask a personal question only the real person would know.
What to Do If You Encounter One
Do not panic and do not pay. Hang up and independently contact the person the call claimed to be from. Save the video or screenshot if possible. Report to cybercrime.gov.in or call 1930. If sextortion is involved, also report to the National Commission for Women helpline (7827-170-170).
Protecting Your Family Before It Happens
Have a family code word — a secret word known only to your household that anyone can use in an emergency to prove they are really calling you. Tighten your social media privacy settings so strangers cannot easily download your photos. Educate older family members who are less digitally aware. The best protection against deepfake fraud is a simple, pre-agreed verification step that no AI can bypass.
