Two men from Haryana have been arrested in Surat for orchestrating a deepfake-driven fraud involving the image of Rajya Sabha MP Govindbhai Dholakia, with scammers exploiting AI technology to deceive victims and siphon nearly Rs 10 crore.
Surat Cyber Crime Police have arrested two men from Haryana over what investigators say was a deepfake-driven fraud that used the image of Rajya Sabha MP and diamond industrialist Govindbhai Dholakia to lure victims with false promises about old coins and currency notes. According to India Today, the case centres on manipulated social media content that made it appear Dholakia was endorsing a high-value exchange scheme. Police said the suspects, Parvez Arif Qureshi and Irshad Qureshi Sammu, were traced after a technical probe.
Investigators said the pair allegedly used artificial intelligence to alter publicly available photographs and video of Dholakia, replacing the original audio with a voice-over. The fake video was circulated on platforms including Facebook and Instagram, where it told viewers they could contact a number to exchange old notes or coins for large sums of money. The fraud came to light after people contacted Dholakia, prompting his company, SRK, to alert police that his identity had been misused in fake accounts.
Police said the operation relied on several fabricated online identities, including Facebook profiles using the name “Old Coin Company”. A report by The Hawk said the suspects also used a WhatsApp account under the name “Govind Bhai” to build trust with potential victims. Those approached were allegedly asked to pay small amounts, often between Rs 1,000 and Rs 1,500, as processing, registration or verification fees before any supposed transaction could proceed.
The investigation has so far linked 10 bank accounts to the accused, with nine complaints filed on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal and a reported total loss of about Rs 9.84 crore. Police also said they recovered a fake PAN card in Dholakia’s name and found that one of the accused had used ChatGPT to help produce the altered video. According to a police official cited in the reports, the same network also used a second method of fraud involving nude video calls and blackmail threats.
The arrests have added to concerns about the growing use of generative AI in online scams, especially cases that borrow the identities of well-known public figures to appear legitimate. Police in Surat said the inquiry is continuing to determine how many people were targeted, how much money was actually collected and whether others were involved in the wider network.
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