DeepfakeHigh
Purported Deepfake WhatsApp Scam Impersonating Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and Actor C. Joseph Vijay Reportedly Defrauded Bengaluru Security Guard of ₹104,000 (~$1,085.40)
- Occurred
- Sep 9, 2026
- Published
- Sep 14, 2026
- Source
- AI Incident Database
Summary
Ratikanta Giri, a 29-year-old security guard in Bengaluru, India, reportedly lost ₹104,000 (~$1,085.40) after a WhatsApp video caller used a purportedly AI-generated deepfake to impersonate C. Joseph Vijay, the actor and chief minister of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The caller promised financial aid, while accomplices allegedly demanded fees and later impersonated India's Central Bureau of Investigation.
Developers
- Synthetic video generation technology developers
- Synthetic media generation technology developers
- Deepfake technology developers
Deployers
- Synthetic media creators
- Scammers
- Impersonation scammers
- Deepfake creators
- Cybercriminals in India
- Cybercriminals
- Scammers in India
Harmed parties
- Victims of impersonation scams
- Victims of deepfake-enabled fraud
- Ratikanta Giri
- Public figures
- Politicians in India
- Politicians
- Impersonated public figures
- Financial scam victims
- Epistemic integrity
- C. Joseph Vijay
Classification
Category confidence: 95%
Severity confidence: 90%
Rationale: AI-generated deepfake used to impersonate public figures and defraud victim of significant funds.
Classifier: Qwen/Qwen3.5-35B-A3B-FP8