CHENNAI: The cyber crime wing of the Crime Branch-CID (CB-CID) police is investigating an online scam involving an AI-generated video impersonating Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay and offering financial assistance through a WhatsApp number.
The police have also approached Meta, which operates Facebook and WhatsApp, as part of the investigation.
Stumbling upon the video, which purportedly shows CM Vijay conversing in Hindi, during cyber patrolling, the cyber crime cell registered a case on Tuesday.
According to CB-CID officials, the video was circulated on Facebook and other social media platforms with the intention of cheating people. Preliminary investigation found that several similar deepfake videos portraying CM Vijay offering financial assistance were being circulated, with many shared through Pakistan-based Facebook IDs.
The police have approached Meta seeking details of the fake account and log records, and have initiated action to have the videos taken down.
A senior CB-CID official told TNIE, “We suspect the modus operandi is that when people respond to the number shown in the video, they get added to a WhatsApp group, from where they will be cheated by those involved. Also, as the video has Hindi audio, we suspect the main targets are Hindi-speaking people.”