Man held for AI-generated video of CM Vijay

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Police’s Crime Branch-CID (CID) arrested a man from Rajasthan in connection with the Artificial Intelligence (AI) generated deep fake video impersonating Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay with Hindi audio.

In the video, circulated on Facebook and other social media platforms, the general public were asked to contact a WhatsApp number for any financial help, with an intention to cheat innocent people.

The CB-CID’s Cyber Crime cell registered a case on September 1 and wrote to the social media platform, Meta, seeking for information relating to the fake ID and also the logs. Investigations revealed that scammers used these AI-generated videos to defraud multiple people across Madhya Pradesh and other states. Based on the data obtained from service providers and digital trails, the suspect's movements was mapped out in the hinterlands of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, police said.

Special teams were sent to Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh and with the assistance of Rajasthan police, a key accused, Shyabu Khan (28) of Lachhmangarh, Alwar was nabbed on Saturday (Sep 12). “The accused has been brought back to Tamil Nadu on transit warrant from Rajasthan and remanded to judicial custody,” an official release stated.

The CB-CID has also obtained testimony and evidence from a fraud victim in Madhya Pradesh. Investigations are under way to find if the accused acted alone or as part of a wider network.

Further, it is also ascertained that many such videos are being shared on purportedly Pakistan based Facebook IDs. Extensive digital probing is underway to identify the foreign perpetrators and expose any local accomplices, police said. “The crackdown has sent a loud, unmistakable message across TN that no matter how advanced the technology, and no matter how remote the hideout, law enforcement’s reach will always be swifter than the deceit,” the official release stated.

DGP Mahesh Kumar Aggarwal, TN’s Head of Police Force, appreciated the officers and team for conducting operation involving advanced technical analysis and effecting arrest of the accused.

The police have appealed to the public to be vigilant about such scams and not respond to the phone numbers / join WhatsApp groups and also educate their kith and kin on this kind of online scams.