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I am here to help you,” a voice and face appearing on a WhatsApp video call allegedly convinced a 29-year-old security guard that he was speaking to Tamil Nadu chief minister and actor C Joseph Vijay. Promised Rs 11 lakh in financial aid, the unsuspecting man ended up losing over Rs 1 lakh after a fraudster allegedly used a deepfake AI-generated video and repeatedly demanded processing fees and other payments. A native of Odisha who has been working in the city for the last 20 years, he received a WhatsApp video call from the number 7986304658 on Sept 9, according to the complaint filed by Ratikanta Giri. The manager offered Rs 11 lakh in aid, claiming that the money would be transferred to Giri’s account through Vijay’s foreign account in dollars. Later, the ‘manager’ told him that Rs 5 lakh had been immediately allotted to him. Initially, Giri was asked to pay Rs 5,000 as exchange charges. Later, he was told that his PIN number had been locked and that he needed to pay Rs 18,000 to release it. When Giri refused, he was allegedly told that he would lose his earlier payment of Rs 5,000. Giri said, “I initially paid Rs 18,000. Later, another person claiming to be Thakur from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) contacted me and demanded over Rs 50,000 as a fine imposed by the agency. I made a few more payments totalling over Rs 1.04 lakh through a digital payment app. When the fraudsters demanded another Rs 50,000, I refused and realised I had been duped. ” Giri later contacted the cybercrime helpline 1930 before approaching Byappanahalli police. To convince him to make the payments, the fraudsters sent Giri a letter claiming that Rs 5 lakh had been allotted to him.
This is the first such case reported in the city.
Soon after he answered the call, he saw Tamil Nadu CM “Vijay” introducing himself. After answering the questions, I was offered financial help from Vijay’s personal account,” he told TOI. He then told me that his manager would contact me and that the funds would be transferred by him. He asked me to follow the instructions of his manager,” Giri said. “We urge people not to believe such calls or make payments based on such claims,” a senior officer said.
Bengaluru: “I am CM Vijay. The fraudster claimed he was providing financial aid to people facing economic hardship. “After introducing himself as CM Vijay in Hindi, I was asked about my name, profession and where I stay. “I refused any help, but the person on the video call repeatedly asked me to accept it, saying that he was helping many people. A case has been registered under the Information Technology Act. They also shared identity proof purportedly belonging to a CBI officer.
Fearing I would lose my earlier payments, I transferred the money.
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