Have you recently come across a video where Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das is seen giving investment advice? This is another deepfake video intended to trick investors into making investment in fraudulent platform(s).
This is not the first time when fraudsters tried fleecing gullible investors with the aid of a public figure’s “video”. Prior to this, social media has witnessed videos of Sachin Tendulkar and NR Narayana Murthy giving similar investing advice.
RBI has even acknowledged the existence of this video and released a statement to call out the fake video.
“It has come to the notice of Reserve Bank of India that fake videos of the Governor are being circulated in social media that claim launch of or support to some investment schemes by the RBI. These videos attempt to advise people to invest their money in such schemes, through use of technological tools,” wrote RBI in a statement.
RBI has further clarified that its officials are not involved in any such activities and these videos are fake. “RBI does not give any such financial investment advice. Members of the public are, therefore, cautioned against engaging with and falling prey to such deepfake videos circulated over social media,” reads the statement further.
These are some of the public figures whose deepfake videos on investing advice became popular on social media.
Deep Fake videos of public figures
1. N.R. Narayana Murthy: There was a deepfake video of Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy floating around late last year where he was seen promoting automated trading applications such as BTC AI Evex, British Bitcoin Profit, Bit Lyte Sync, Immediate Momentum, Capitalix Ventures.
The news appeared on some fake websites which masqueraded as popular newspaper websites. Finally, the famous Bangalorean debunked those fraudulent claims via his twitter handle on Dec 14, 2023.
2. Sachin Tendulkar: Early this year, there was a deep fake video circulating on the social media where the master blaster was explaining how a new mobile app had helped his daughter earn easy money. Just like Murthy, Sachin called for swift action from social media platforms to avoid this practice. That time, Sachin had said that it was ‘disturbing to see rampant misuse of technology’.
3. Mukesh Ambani: One retired person in Bangalore fell victim to a deep fake video ad of Mukesh Ambani on Facebook. Lured by the promises made in the video, the victim transferred ₹19 lakh across various accounts. Later, when the scammers stopped responding, he realised he had been duped.
A few days ago, Amitabh Bachchan’s fake interview was also circulating on Instagram and on clicking the same, it took the visitors to a fake website masquerading as a popular news portal where the super star is seen talking about an easy way to earn money by investing small amounts in an app. It was not a video but shown as a print interview.