Deepfakes & Phishing: Scammers Target Users with Celebrity Videos

New Delhi, Oct 4 (PTI) Scammers are registering over 1,000 phishing domains every day and creating deepfake videos of prominent Indian personalities such as Mukesh Ambani, Virat Kohli, etc to promote dubious gamings apps, cyber security firm CloudSEK said on Friday.

The deepfake videos use manipulated footage of famous news anchors to create fake news videos of prominent personalities to endorse dubious apps, the CloudSEK report said.

"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. Research shows over 1000 phishing domains are being created every day to cheat netizens of over seven countries," the report said.

The cyber security firm said that by leveraging its deepfake detection technology 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.

"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 the app," the report said.

The videos lure users by promising substantial financial rewards through minimal investments, claiming users can multiply their money simply by playing the game.

"Virat Kohli has been one of the most frequently targeted figures for similar 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," the report said.

According to the report, scamsters initially targeted the European Union population in early September 2024 and later expanded to India and various other regions, including Nigeria, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, and Southeast Asia.

CloudSEK also announced that it has made its deep fake detection technology free for everyone that will help them in identifying deepfake videos.