Chennai CB-CID Probes AI Deepfake Video Impersonating CM Vijay

The CB-CID cybercrime wing in Chennai registered a case on September 1 following the detection of an artificial intelligence-generated deepfake video impersonating Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay that had been circulating across social media platforms.

The fraudulent video depicted an individual closely resembling the Chief Minister speaking in Hindi. In the clip, the impersonated figure asked individuals seeking financial assistance to contact a designated WhatsApp phone number.

The issue was initially flagged when the social media centre of the state police detected the footage online and alerted the CB-CID cybercrime wing. Upon receiving the alert, officials registered a formal case, and an inspector of police from the cybercrime wing was assigned to conduct the investigation into the video.

As part of the probe, the police sent a formal request to Meta seeking the account logs and details of the specific Facebook ID used to upload the material. The cybercrime wing is currently working to identify the individuals responsible for creating and circulating the footage so that legal action can be initiated against them. Alongside tracking the perpetrators, authorities have also initiated steps to take down and remove the video from social media platforms.

Police investigators suspect that some of the videos were shared from social media accounts originating in Pakistan.

In response to the incident, the police issued an advisory cautioning the public against interacting with the deceptive material. Authorities appealed to citizens not to contact the phone numbers provided in such videos, not to join any linked WhatsApp groups, and to avoid following any directions or instructions issued through fraudulent messages.