A deepfake video featuring Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto recently went viral on social media and was exploited by scam groups, causing large numbers of people across 20 provinces to be defrauded. The scammers asked victims to pay between 250,000 and 1,000,000 Indonesian Rupiah (approximately 80 to 320 RMB) as an "administrative fee" to receive non-existent financial aid.
In November last year, a video posted on Instagram (IG) showed Prabowo wearing a black shirt and a traditional black hat, warmly greeting the audience with, "Who has not yet received my aid? What do you need now?" However, this video was actually created by fraudsters using artificial intelligence (AI) technology to mislead the public.
Police investigations revealed that the scam groups used such deepfake videos to ask victims to add a WhatsApp account and pay the so-called "administrative fee" to receive aid money. Some victims even video-called with the scammers, thinking they were really talking to Prabowo, only to be deceived. For example, 56-year-old Ariyani was scammed out of 200,000 Indonesian Rupiah after watching a forged video of a well-known Indonesian businessman and believing the scam.
According to an AFP investigation, at least 22 TikTok accounts have been actively promoting similar scams, some of which specifically produce fake videos of Prabowo distributing economic aid. One account with 77,000 followers posted a fake video that was viewed over 7.5 million times, while another account has uploaded more than 100 deepfake videos since January this year.
TikTok stated that it has removed some of the violating content and committed to intensifying efforts to combat such scams. However, Facebook's parent company Meta has yet to respond to the issue. AFP, along with over 100 global fact-checking organizations, is working with TikTok and Meta to verify content on the platforms that may contain false information.
Himawan, head of Indonesia's National Cybercrime Unit, revealed that the police have arrested a suspect who profited 65 million Indonesian Rupiah from a deepfake scam and detained another suspect involved in similar crimes.
Ari Bowo, co-founder of the Indonesian fact-checking organization Mafindo, stated that the agency almost weekly uncovers new AI deepfake scam cases. He warned that as AI tools become more widespread and cost-effective, scammers are increasingly using deepfake videos of well-known figures, affecting international political and business leaders such as Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
"The technology behind these forged videos is becoming more sophisticated, making it difficult to distinguish between real and fake. The most concerning aspect is the rapidly increasing number of such scams," said Ari Bowo.
The Indonesian government is urging the public to be vigilant, not to trust aid information on social media, and to verify information on official platforms to avoid becoming victims of scams.
