Owaisi lodges complaint over deepfake video promoting investment scheme on his name

Hyderabad: The Hyderabad police have registered a case after a deepfake video of AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi was circulated on social media platforms to promote an online investment scheme. The AI-generated fake video fraudulently used Owaisi's image and name, along with other renowned personalities, to mislead the public into believing that he is promoting an investment scam, police said on Saturday. The fake video promised returns of Rs 53,000 daily. The video directs people to invest in a scam website, putting innocent individuals at risk of losing money, the Hyderabad MP said in a complaint lodged with the police. "The video was created and uploaded along with malicious content to lure innocent people and to make false propaganda in my name," Owaisi said in the complaint.

The video is accompanied with AI-generated clips of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, billionaire industrialist Mukesh Ambani and Infosys founder Narayana Murthy, police said. Owaisi requested the police to issue directives to social media platforms to take down the fake video, register a case and investigate and trace the origin of the video. Based on the complaint by Owaisi, the Cyber Crime Police Station registered a case on June 5 under relevant sections of IT Act and BNS, a senior police official said on Saturday. An investigation is on including removal of the video from the social media platform, the official said. Further probe is on.