The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), through the National Cybercrime Threat Analytics Unit (NCTAU) of the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), has issued an urgent advisory warning citizens about financial scams on Facebook and Instagram. Fraudsters are using AI-generated deepfake videos and manipulated ads impersonating Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and state Chief Ministers to push fake government welfare schemes and investment traps. Many of these ads use deepfakes or heavily edited videos.
The advisory points out that fraudsters deceive victims into paying purported taxes, processing fees, registration charges and other expenses to receive the promised benefits.
In some cases, the advisory says, victims are lured through fake cashback rewards and scratch-card or spin-and-win contests and tricked into approving Unified Payments Interface (UPI) collect requests, resulting in money being debited from their accounts.
The advisory also cautioned people to exercise extreme care if they receive calls from international numbers, particularly those beginning with +92 (Pakistan's country code), from individuals claiming to represent public figures or their offices.
According to the advisory, fraudsters circulate advertisements, primarily on Meta platforms, featuring manipulated videos that falsely show public figures announcing or promoting welfare schemes intended to provide financial assistance to needy people. Some advertisements contain phone numbers, while others redirect users to fraudulent websites to claim the purported benefits or rewards.Â
Victims are contacted through phone calls or WhatsApp chats, or redirected to websites offering fake scratch-card and spin-and-win contests, it said, adding, "In several cases, callers using international numbers, particularly +92 (Pakistan) numbers, claim that the victims have been randomly selected to receive financial assistance."
