Beware! BSE warns of deepfake scamsters luring investors with stock market tips — How to avoid it?

The Bombay Stock Exchange has cautioned investors about a new scam where fraudsters use deepfake technology to create misleading videos of stock market expert. According to BSE, fraudsters pose as experts or celebrities using deepfake to give investment tips.

Taking to the social media platform X, BSE wrote “Deep Fake Scams Are Here! Are You the Next Target? Imagine seeing a trusted financial expert or celebrity endorsing an investment - only to realize it's completely fake! Scammers are using AI-powered deep fake videos to make fraud look shockingly real and steal your money."

Additionally, the stock exchange shared a video to inform investors about how this scam works.

Watch the video here —

BSE advises investors to stay informed and vigilant and not fall for ‘deepfake deception.’

What is a deepfake?

Deepfake technology uses a form of artificial intelligence technology that creates realistic but fake videos. It can be used for both video or image manipulation. Scamsters typically collect visual and audio data about the target individual through publicly available information such as social media presence. Then, the data is used to train a deep learning model to mimic the person by swapping their face to create a fake video.

RBI's warning

Since the last few years, deepfake technology has become a major issue worldwide. In November 2024, the Reserve Bank of India warned investors about fake videos of former Governor Shaktikanta Das circulating on social media. These videos claimed to promote some RBI-backed investment schemes to trick investors.

How to identify deepfake videos?

With the massive use of artificial intelligence, it has become difficult to spot deepfake videos. Here are some of the tips to identify deepfake videos.

• Look out for inconsistencies in video, audio, colour, and facial features in a video. This may help differentiate a deepfake video from an original one. Notice inconsistencies in voice and mouth movements as well.
• Check out the source of the video. In most cases such videos will not be circulated by authentic channels. Beware of fake accounts and bots that circulate such videos.