Roshan Dilli - A Campaign To Light Up Public Spaces In Delhi And Make The City Safer For Women
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Kerala Man Loses Rs 40,000 To AI-Based Deepfake Scam: Here's What It Is

Kerala Man Loses Rs 40,000 To AI-Based Deepfake Scam: Here's What It Is
The victims usually receive video calls on WhatsApp from known people asking for money.

A man in Kerala's Kozhikode lost Rs 40,000 after falling prey to an artificial intelligence-based scam. According to the police, it was a deepfake scam involving someone who the man knew.

Here's how a deepfake scam works:

  1. According to the police in Kerala, Radhakrishnan received a video call on WhatsApp from an unknown number. When he received the call, the person on the other side looked like one of his former colleagues in Andhra Pradesh.

  2. The person on the other side asked Rs 40,000 from Radhakrishnan via Google Pay to help a relative in the hospital. When another demand for Rs 30,000 was made, Radhakrishnan got suspicious and filed a complaint with the Cyber Police.

  3. With the AI getting more powerful, scammers are using it to impersonate someone, making the distinction between real and fake challenging. AI technology is used to analyse and process data, such as facial images and voice recordings, facilitating the creation of realistic deepfake videos that closely imitate a person's appearance and voice.

  4. In May, another shocking incident was reported from China when a scammer used AI-powered face-swapping technology to impersonate a friend of the victim during a video call and receive a transfer of 4.3 million yuan ($622,000).

  5. Experts have warned about such scams, offering some tips to be safe. People are asked to check the video quality as most of the deepfakes have poor resolution. If observed carefully, the deepfake videos loop back to the beginning after a certain amount of time or abruptly stop, making it clear that it's not real. It is also advisable to contact a person separately to check if he/she is indeed on the video call before making any financial transactions.

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About The Campaign

NDTV in partnership with UBER is launching a sustained campaign 'Roshan Dilli'  to try and raise safety standards in India's capital, New Delhi.

Our focus is to try and improve lighting in public spaces in the city. Lighting is a key factor in shaping women's perceptions of safety

The initiative will provide a platform for all stakeholders to discuss our goal of improving safety standards, to start a conversation about safety of women in the country

It will also highlight various interventions and solutions that help to make women safe and put the spotlight on what more can be done.

The campaign will accentuate the need for Safety to be a shared responsibility

The need for gender sensitization and how law enforcement and civil society through checks and education can try and make women safer

We hope you will join us and help make New Delhi a safer city for women.

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