Kozhikode: Kozhikode Police have made history by arresting an entire group involved in creating fake audio and video content to execute financial fraud using artificial intelligence. Despite the relatively small amount of money lost and the accused having no direct connections with Kerala, the squad cracked the case. The squad successfully apprehended five suspects from their respective hometowns.

The most recent arrest in this case is Prashant, also known as Mohammad Ali (38), a resident of Hyderabad. Earlier, Kaushal Shah and Sheikh Murtahayat Bhai, both from Gujarat, along with Siddesh Anand Karve and Amarish Ashok Patil from Maharashtra, were also arrested.

'Deepfake' fraud

The scammers would gather information about senior citizens from social media and create fake videos using artificial intelligence.

These videos often depicted the seniors as seriously ill and in hospital, prompting them to request emergency funds from their relatives. If the relatives grew suspicious during a phone call, the scammers would show a fake video during a video call to further their deceit.

The Kozhikode police were alerted to this fraud following a complaint by Radhakrishnan, a resident of Palazhi, who had been duped into paying Rs 40,000.

According to police, the perpetrator used AI-powered face-swapping technology (deepfake) to impersonate a former colleague of Radhakrishnan. During a video call, Radhakrishnan was requested by the ‘former colleague’ (deepfake) to send money for the medical treatment of the latter’s sister. Radhakrishnan promptly transferred the money in the belief that the concern was genuine. However, he felt suspicious after the ‘former colleague’ demanded more money. Only then did he approach the police.

The investigation was supervised by Commissioner Rajpal Meena and Deputy Commissioner of Police Anuj Paliwal.