CBCID cracks down on CM Vijay deepfakes offering ‘financial help’

Tamil Nadu’s Crime Branch CID has registered a cybercrime case after its patrol team found a computer-generated fake video of Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay circulating on Facebook.

In the deepfake clip, a face and voice made to look and sound like the chief minister asks people who need money to contact a WhatsApp number. The audio is in Hindi. Police say the video was made to cheat the public, not to announce any government scheme.

A special report went up on September 1. The same day, the Cyber Crime Cell of CBCID registered a case and began an inquiry. Officials have written to Meta, which owns Facebook, asking for details of the fake account, login records, and immediate removal of the video.

Source may be Pakistan

This is not a single post. Several deepfake videos, all showing the chief minister offering help, are circulating on Facebook and other platforms. Police say many of the shares came from Facebook IDs that appear to be based in Pakistan. The probe is now trying to find out who made the clips and get them taken down.

Also read: The Federal Survey: Clean image powers Vijay's 100-day governance

The method is simple and old, only the tool is new. A video is created so that the chief minister appears to speak. Viewers are then told to message a number or join a WhatsApp group for “financial help”. Once someone replies, the next step is usually a small “processing fee”, then larger payments for tax, conversion, or clearance. The money never comes, of course.

Warning for public

Police have asked the public not to call the numbers, not to join the groups, and not to send money. They have also asked families to warn elders and others who may trust a familiar face on a screen.

But why Vijay? First, he was well known as a film actor, then he became the Tamil Nadu chief minister on May 10 this year, with his party, the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam, only about a year old then, forming a coalition government without the DMK or AIADMK for the first time in the state since 1969. Since his face and voice are widely known, fraudsters have started using them for their gains.

Women cheated of lakhs

This is not the first time Vijay’s name has been used by fraudsters this year. In July, a 66-year-old woman in Vasai, near Mumbai, saw an Instagram reel that looked like Vijay promising aid to the poor. She called the number on the reel, was asked for a processing fee, and was later told a large sum from abroad was waiting if she paid tax and other charges. Over 10 days, she took a loan, pledged jewellery and used her daughter’s account. Police say she lost Rs 12 lakh. A case was registered at Waliv police station.

In August, another woman from Tamil Nadu, living in Goa, lost Rs 2.4 lakh after a fake Facebook advertisement offered Rs 20 lakh in “housing aid” under a made-up “CM Vijay scheme”. Callers then demanded fees and conversion charges.

Also read: Explained: What is deepfake and how can you identify such content?

This week, Indore police said they had received several complaints of callers posing as staff of a “foundation” linked to the Tamil Nadu chief minister and offering loans, start-up money, or study-abroad help. They collected registration and processing fees. Indore Crime Branch has shared details with Tamil Nadu Police.

Action taken so far

The CBCID case is the first statewide action announced from Chennai against the video version of the same trick. The investigation has three parts: Identify the accounts that first posted the video; get Meta to hand over logs and remove the content; and trace the WhatsApp numbers and bank accounts used to collect money.

Because some IDs appear to sit outside India, the work may need help from other agencies. No arrest has been announced so far. The official line is that the inquiry is in progress. The state information department has also asked people to treat any video of the chief minister offering cash over WhatsApp as false unless it appears on an official government handle.