Latest news with #AthenianTech
NDTV
30-07-2025
- Business
- NDTV
A Disturbing Trend: Viral Deepfakes Promoting Fake Investment Schemes
New Delhi: A deepfake video of Prime Minister Narendra Modi promoting a fake investment scheme has gone viral on Facebook, posing digital risks to lakhs of potential victims. This is not a remote incident. Several such deepfake videos are being promoted on different social media platforms, banking on the credibility of famous personalities like ministers and industrialists, to propagate fraudulent schemes. Such campaigns highlight a troubling trend in which scams are no longer being overt but hiding behind the disguise of legitimacy. Athenian Tech, a cybersecurity firm that monitors digital risk, said that such scams are using deepfake technology and psychological tactics to defraud citizens under the pretext of an investment scheme endorsed by the government. "At the core of the operation lies a Facebook spearphishing campaign, featuring a fabricated video of Prime Minister Narendra Modi purportedly endorsing an AI-powered trading platform. The campaign manipulates emotional and aspirational cues by falsely associating respected figures such as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Narayana Murthy, and Sudha Murty as co-creators," reads its 'Threat Intelligence Report'. Testimonials promising extraordinary returns like a daily payout are run alongside to make such fabricated endorsements even more convincing to the potential victims. The broader threat impact of such deepfake campaigns is multifaceted, the report said, pointing to one such deepfake promising a return of Rs 9 lakh in seven days after an initial investment of Rs 21,000. Besides losses, unauthorised financial activity and identity theft are among the secondary risks, it noted. "More critically, the misuse of AI-generated deepfakes featuring Indian leaders poses a national security challenge by eroding public confidence and enabling potential information warfare," said Athenian Tech. The report said that such campaigns rely on paid promotions through Meta Ads. They redirect users to fraudulent domains commonly linked to scam networks. "These fraudulent sites harvest personally identifiable information via imitation forms, followed by coordinated outreach from scam call centers," the report said. It is easy to spot Facebook accounts propagating such scams. Generic account names, artificial engagement, and cross-platform video re-sharing are some signs that separate these accounts from genuine ones. Social media users should not click on unknown links and verify endorsements through official channels, the report added, urging them to report such Facebook posts through its internal abuse mechanism.
NDTV
04-06-2025
- Business
- NDTV
"False Endorsements, Real Losses": AI-Enabled Financial Scams On The Rise
New Delhi: A digital risk firm has raised an alarm over the rapid rise of AI-enabled financial scams in India in a devastating report that analysed some cases, including a deep fake video of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in which she is seen endorsing fraudulent cryptocurrency. The initial wave emerged with the circulation of deep fake videos featuring Google CEO Sundar Pichai, in which he was falsely portrayed as endorsing a platform called Google Invest, described as a government-supported initiative offering unusually high returns, the report titled 'False Endorsements, Real Losses' by digital risk management firm Athenian Tech said. In its more evolved form, the fraud assumed a sophisticated disguise - a recent campaign replicated the layout and typographic style of the Times of India website to lend journalistic legitimacy to a platform named 'Go Invest' using the image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the report said. Further investigations indicate the same ecosystem released a deep fake video of Ms Sitharaman, in which she appeared to be endorsing another fictitious initiative called 'InvestGPT', said the report by the company founded by Kanishk Gaur, who has led leadership roles with Deloitte, EY, and Synopsis. The video, similar in structure to the earlier clip of Mr Pichai, used manipulated lip-sync and voice synthesis to simulate endorsement, reinforcing a now-familiar strategy that relies on public trust in institutional figures, it said. In the 'threat analysis' section, the report highlighted the implications of such synthetic media - they create a misleading sense of legitimacy by showing trusted public figures; they blur the boundaries between authentic and manipulated communication, distorting public perception, and they inflict lasting reputational damage - even after content removal - by spreading doubt and misinformation across digital channels. To fight this new class of digital fraud, the report recommended steps beyond domain takedowns. "What is required is a coordinated strategy that encompasses early detection mechanisms, robust user education, media verification protocols, and stronger accountability from platforms that host such content. In an age where seeing is no longer enough to believe, vigilance must become the default posture," the report said. It also suggested reporting the domain to CERT-In and other cyber security authorities for immediate takedown, notifying the domain registrar and hosting provider to suspend the website, blocking the URL within networks to prevent users from accessing it, raising public awareness about such scams through social media and official advisories, and monitoring for similar domains that may copy this scam to continue the fraud under new names.
