Kozhikode: The deep fake Godfather clip made by Vavval Manusyan (Tom Antony) wowed Indians and Malayalis in particular. But its maker, a motion graphics designer from Kottayam, later said he was scared of what he created and what AI deep fakes can do.
Here's a sample of what it can do. A retired official of Coal India lost Rs 40,000 after cybercriminals used deep fake AI technology and posed as a former colleague in a WhatsApp video call and sought money for his sister's surgery.
The retired official, now living in Kozhikode, transferred the money using a mobile payment app. He got suspicious when the former colleague sought another Rs 35,000.
Kozhikode City Cyber Police, investigating the case, said the bank account which received the money has been frozen.
The case brought home the dangers of deep fakes and face-swap apps, said investigators. "And this happened to a person who is aware of cybercrimes," said Inspector Dinesh Koroth, station house officer of Kozhikode City Cyber Police.
On July 9, the retired official got a call on his mobile phone from his former colleague in Hyderabad asking him to transfer Rs 40,000 to his sister's bank account immediately because she was scheduled to undergo emergency surgery. But the call came from a new number. The caller explained it away by saying he lost the old phone number.
The retired official wanted to be doubly sure that he was not being taken for a ride. "So he video-called his former colleague on Whatsapp," said Koroth.
The former colleague attended the video call. He was in Dubai airport and rushing to board a flight to the US.Convinced, the retired official transferred the money to the sister's account using a mobile payment app.
But soon, he got another call from the same person asking for another Rs 35,000. That's when his alarm bells went off. "The official then called the former colleague's phone number saved in his contact list," said the inspector. The former colleague said he never called him.
Baffled, the retired official approached the City Cyber Police the next day on July 9. It was a Sunday.
Koroth said the money was initially received in an account with Jio Payments Bank. From there, the money was transferred to a Ratnakar Bank branch in Maharashtra. "We asked the bank to freeze the account on Monday (July 11)," he said.
'Faked face and voice too'
Cybercrime inspector Koroth said several web-based software applications were available in the public domain to make fake video calls. "Here, the criminals faked the face and voice of the former colleague," he said.
The officer said cybercriminals work on their victims with data available to them before making the first call. "They invest a lot of time in research apart from using the latest technology," he said.
WhatsApp and FaceTime mobile apps have in-built features to prevent video calls using deep fakes. But there is a chink. Web-based deep fake applications such as ManyCam and OBS (Open Broadcaster Software) can be accessed through WhatsApp's web app, which now allows voice and video calls.
In the case of ManyCam, once installed on a laptop or desktop computer, it will show up in the WhatsApp Web App while making video or voice calls. If selected, the WhatsApp video call will stream what's playing in ManyCam.
Deep fake AI tools will be extensively used by cybercriminals, said police.
The cyber police said they were now working on finding the criminals behind the deep fake call. But won't be easy as bank accounts and SIM cards are also available on sale on Telegram, said a senior cyber police officer in Kasaragod. "There is no need to go to the dark net," he said.
