A deepfake video call appearing to be an urgent plea for help from Dubai was used to con a man out of thousands of dirhams.
A retired government official living in Kerala, India, received a call last week from someone he thought was a friend at Dubai Airport.
He received audio and video calls, during which he saw his friend's face.
Seeing his friend chatting away to him as usual put him at ease and he did not hesitate to act when asked for cash to help with an urgent medical emergency.
“I had no reason in the world to think that it was a scam. I have known him for more than 40 years. I even saw his face on my phone's screen and I thought it was him,” said Padiyeri Radhakrishnan, 73.
“We were in the same company for many years, and I immediately recognised his voice.
“He started the conversation asking about how my retired life is in Calicut, and also about my daughter who recently moved to Singapore from Gurgaon in Haryana.
“We also spoke at length about all our friends who are now settled in different parts of India.”
Deepfake is the name given to a form of synthetic media created by artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms.
It manipulates images, audio and recordings and can create fake video or audio messages from particular people.
The use of the technology is becoming rife around the world.
The UAE's National Programme for Artificial Intelligence and the Council for Digital Well-being published a guide to raise awareness of deepfake technology in 2021.
Mr Radhakrishnan was unaware he was speaking to a digital copy of his friend, so convincing was the voice created to swindle him out of his money.
As the conversation flowed, the caller's tone took an urgent turn. He said he was at the airport in Dubai waiting for his flight to Mumbai.
The voice on the other side explained he was travelling to see his gravely ill sister who urgently needed money for life-saving treatment.
“He said he called several of his relatives, but no one was picking up as it was early hours on a weekend,” Mr Radhakrishnan said.
“It felt genuine. But I still wanted to make sure that I was not making a mistake.
“I told him that I was worried about transferring money as there were several scams doing the rounds and immediately said he would call me on video.
“I saw him on the screen, and he started talking to me. His eyes and lips were moving, and it all looked perfect except that he was holding the phone too close to his face.”
Mr Radhakrishnan said he immediately transferred Indian Rupees 40,000 (Dh2,000) to the account provided by his friend.
“Within minutes, he called again confirming the receipt and assured me that he will transfer back the money as soon he reached Mumbai,” he said.
But what raised the red flag was when the friend asked for more money.
“Suddenly, I felt something was odd. Why would he ask me a second time?” said Mr Radhakrishnan.
“I excused myself, saying I do not have enough cash in my account, and hung up.”
To assuage his doubts, Mr Radhakrishnan then called his friend on the number that he had originally saved.
“To my shock, my friend picked up, and the first thing he said was '[it's been] a long time, I haven’t heard from you',” he said.
“That was the shock of my life. Was he kidding me?
“My friend did not understand what was going on, and he hung up saying he was boarding a flight and will call when he lands.
“It was hard to believe because I spoke to the man, and even saw him. I could not believe what had just happened.”
A senior official from Kerala’s cyber police, who investigated the case, told The National the money had been traced successfully.
“The fraudster had transferred the money to multiple banks at first and later converged it to a single account in a private bank in Maharashtra. That account is frozen,” said the officer.
The officer added the money would be returned to Mr Radhakrishnan as soon as a court orders the release of the funds.
Experts sound alarm
Deepfake frauds have surfaced in many countries recently, with experts and authorities quick to sound warnings.
Early this month, a new deepfake video of MoneySavingExpert.com founder Martin Lewis circulated on social media, with AI mimicking his face and voice to promote an app associated with Tesla and Twitter owner Elon Musk.
“As technology gets more sophisticated, identifying these scams becomes harder but not impossible,” said Candid Wuest, Acronis's vice principal of cyber protection research.
“Pay attention to what is said, how it is said, and whether or not this is normal behaviour.
“For example, if someone without a history of asking you for money all of a sudden needs money right away, your antenna should be up.
“Where did you first meet this person? AI probably won’t know that unless you’ve talked about it before. Specifics are sometimes the best way to identify deep fakes.”
The story in numbers
18
This is how many recognised sects Lebanon is home to, along with about four million citizens
450,000
More than this many Palestinian refugees are registered with UNRWA in Lebanon, with about 45 per cent of them living in the country’s 12 refugee camps
1.5 million
There are just under 1 million Syrian refugees registered with the UN, although the government puts the figure upwards of 1.5m
73
The percentage of stateless people in Lebanon, who are not of Palestinian origin, born to a Lebanese mother, according to a 2012-2013 study by human rights organisation Frontiers Ruwad Association
18,000
The number of marriages recorded between Lebanese women and foreigners between the years 1995 and 2008, according to a 2009 study backed by the UN Development Programme
77,400
The number of people believed to be affected by the current nationality law, according to the 2009 UN study
4,926
This is how many Lebanese-Palestinian households there were in Lebanon in 2016, according to a census by the Lebanese-Palestinian dialogue committee
DUBAI SEVENS 2018 DRAW
Gulf Men’s League
Pool A – Dubai Exiles, Dubai Hurricanes, Bahrain, Dubai Sports City Eagles
Pool B – Jebel Ali Dragons, Abu Dhabi Saracens, Abu Dhabi Harlequins, Al Ain Amblers
Gulf Men’s Open
Pool A – Bahrain Firbolgs, Arabian Knights, Yalla Rugby, Muscat
Pool B – Amman Citadel, APB Dubai Sharks, Jebel Ali Dragons 2, Saudi Rugby
Pool C – Abu Dhabi Harlequins 2, Roberts Construction, Dubai Exiles 2
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Pool C – Dubai Hurricanes, Emirates Firebirds 2, Abu Dhabi Saracens, Transforma Panthers
Pool D – AUC Wolves, Dubai Hawks, Abu Dhabi Harlequins, Al Ain Amblers
Gulf U19 Girls
Pool A – Dubai Exiles, BSAK, DESC, Al Maha
Pool B – Arabian Knights, Dubai Hurricanes, Al Ain Amblers, Abu Dhabi Harlequins
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Jetour T1 specs
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GIANT REVIEW
Starring: Amir El-Masry, Pierce Brosnan
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The specs: 2018 Mazda CX-5
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It is thought that graphene could boost the useful life of batteries by 10 per cent.
Graphene can also detect cancer cells in the early stages of the disease.
The material was first discovered when Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov were 'playing' with graphite at the University of Manchester in 2004.
Three tips from La Perle's performers
1 The kind of water athletes drink is important. Gwilym Hooson, a 28-year-old British performer who is currently recovering from knee surgery, found that out when the company was still in Studio City, training for 12 hours a day. “The physio team was like: ‘Why is everyone getting cramps?’ And then they realised we had to add salt and sugar to the water,” he says.
2 A little chocolate is a good thing. “It’s emergency energy,” says Craig Paul Smith, La Perle’s head coach and former Cirque du Soleil performer, gesturing to an almost-empty open box of mini chocolate bars on his desk backstage.
3 Take chances, says Young, who has worked all over the world, including most recently at Dragone’s show in China. “Every time we go out of our comfort zone, we learn a lot about ourselves,” she says.
Dubai Rugby Sevens, December 5 -7
World Sevens Series Pools
A – Fiji, France, Argentina, Japan
B – United States, Australia, Scotland, Ireland
C – New Zealand, Samoa, Canada, Wales
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October 3: v Wuhan Jiangda Women’s FC
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Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
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Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind
Fixtures
Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE
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MATCH INFO
France 3
Umtiti (8'), Griezmann (29' pen), Dembele (63')
Italy 1
Bonucci (36')
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Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
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THE BIO
Occupation: Specialised chief medical laboratory technologist
Age: 78
Favourite destination: Always Al Ain “Dar Al Zain”
Hobbies: his work - “ the thing which I am most passionate for and which occupied all my time in the morning and evening from 1963 to 2019”
Other hobbies: football
Favorite football club: Al Ain Sports Club
