Recently, Bollywood actor and dancer Nora Fatehi took to Instagram to share a deepfake of hers that was making rounds on social media. Apparently, clothing brand ‘Lulumelon’ had used Nora’s deepfake in a promotional video, advertising special discounts.
Calling out the brand on her Instagram story Fatehi wrote, “ Shocked! This is not me.” However, the event turned out to be a collaboration between Fatehi and HDFC for their ‘What the fraud’ campaign.
Read More: Deepfaking a deepfake: HDFC’s campaign won in traction but lost in trust
HDFC’s ‘What the Fraud’ campaign is an effort to raise awareness about cyber and financial fraud. The campaign has introduced ‘Vigil Aunty’, a saree clad superhero influencer, who protects customers from financial frauds.
The recent episode of the series tackles the dangerous trend of Deepfakes in the realm of fraud. Nora Fatehi along with Vigil Aunty discuss threats posed by AI to the advertising industry and the consumer and highlight the potential harms of deepfakes. They also shed light on consumer awareness and urge the viewers to be cautious while making online transactions.
According to the actress, the brand ‘Lulumelon’ was a fictional entity created by HDFC and shared on Instagram to raise awareness about online scams. The name deliberately resembled a well-known brand, mirroring the tactics used by scammers to exploit trust. AI technology was then employed to craft a digital character, “Vigil Aunty,” designed to closely resemble and sound like Nora (with her consent ). This convincing imitation formed the core of the prank aimed at educating the public about the dangers of online fraud.
The creation of the AI generated person portraying Nora Fatehi comprised resemblance with her facial features, body proportions and voice qualities. In an attempt to make this more believable, HDFC created multiple fake handles of the brand across various social media platforms and garnered the attention of eager shoppers. When customers clicked on these links such as lulumelon.in or lulumelon.sk, Vigil Aunty appeared on their screen to make them aware of the potential scams while Nora denied the legitimacy of online promotions using her image and exposed their deceptive nature. As a part of the ‘What the Fraud’ episode, the real story behind the campaign was also unveiled through a pop-up video.
The driving force behind this campaign was to encourage consumers to verify the true nature of any ongoing sale or brand campaign. HDFC’s main focus was to create awareness among people and educate them about fraudulent schemes.
Previously, Anup Soni, the host of popular crime show ‘Crime Patrol’ and Shivaji Satam From Sony’s show CID, were also featured in the series.
In recent times, several celebrities and sports stars like Rashmika Mandanna, Priyanka Chopra, Katrina Kaif, Alia Bhatt, Sachin Tendulkar have fallen prey to deepfake videos. In December 2023, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar held discussions with social media platforms to navigate their advancements in addressing deepfakes. Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw also stated that notices were served to all social media platforms to implement proactive measures for identifying and removing misleading content from their platforms.