4 held for deep fake post of Sebi analyst
MUMBAI, Oct. 19 -- Four executives of a Bangalore-based digital marketing firm were arrested recently by the city cyber police for allegedly cheating investors by posting deep fake videos of various share-market experts.
The police said they received a complaint on September 29 from a well known Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) research analyst, who also appears on TV channels. He told the police that a team of cyber frauds sitting in foreign countries had used his name and posted several deepfake videos of him on social media to dupe innocent people.
"In these videos people were asked to invest in various shares," he told the police, adding that the link below the video directed them to a WhatsApp group where they were told they could get tips from him and make good money.
The police said that the people would invest in shares via the fake application links provided by the accused and they would be shown huge profits. However, they would be unable to withdraw their money.
At first the police arrested the people in whose accounts the money had been transferred. The police then found that the main accused were based in Cambodia and working for the Chinese.
While waiting for leads in Cambodia, the police decided to focus on catching the digital marketing companies that were making such fraudulent posts viral.
The police then tracked down a woman in Assam on whose social media accounts the deepfakes had been posted. Investigations revealed that she was employed at a Bangalore-based digital marketing firm, Valueleaf.
The police said that Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, had flagged the woman's account, citing violations, but still she had continued to make those posts.
The accused have made Rs.3 crore from cyber frauds in India, and the bounty of their spoils in Dubai is still under investigation.
"Due to the promoted advertisements on social media several people get cheated and several cases are registered. People fall for such scams because they think experts are guiding them," said deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Purshottam Karad.
"People should not fall for promises that claim to double their money instantly. Cyber frauds create fake companies with the same name as well established firms, and due people," said Suvarna Shinde, senior police inspector of Western Cyber police.
The West Cyber police identified the accused as Gigil Sebastian, 44, Deepayan Banerjee, 30, Daniel Arumugham, 25, all three residents of Bangalore, and Chandrashekhar Naik, 42, a resident of Kopari, Thane.
According to the police, the cops have booked the four accused persons under several relevant sections including 318 (cheating), 319 (cheating by personation), 336 (forgery) and 356 (criminal defamation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita....
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