AI fraud shocks even PM Modi

Information leakage is a matter of great concern. The news about the Aadhaar details of 81.5 crore people in India getting leaked and going for sale on the dark web is shocking nevertheless. Apart from this, ATM card details of lakhs of Indians have already reached the dark web space. This fraud is moving at such a pace that there now exists no guarantee about the safety of money deposited in bank vaults. Fraudsters can make anything look believable while also misusing artificial intelligence.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself had recently warned against the spread of deep fake videos. Deep fakes are one of the biggest threats facing the Indian system right now. The prime minister said citizens and the media should be vigilant as such misuse has increased in cyberspace.

A deep fake video showing the Prime Minister playing Garba with women went viral. The prime minister registered shock seeing the realness of the AI video albeit the video being fake. A panel of experts should hold detailed discussions and propose solutions on how to deal with deep fakes and data leaks. Such fraudulent works can easily wreak huge damage to society.

The AI can also influence the next Lok Sabha elections with such deceptive shenanigans. The biggest threat and problem is not being able to distinguish between the real and the fake. Many people have been arrested for spreading AI-made nude videos of celebrities and others, but the threat posed by this has not been contained.

Recently, the information stored in the database of the Indian Medical Research Council as part of the preventive measures against COVID-19 has caused much concern. Name, address, phone number, Aadhaar and passport details have been put up for sale by a hacker on the dark web for Rs 65 lakh. The website of the Ministry of AYUSH in Jharkhand was hacked and the information of 3.5 lakh patients was put on sale. A dedicated central agency should be formed just to contain such AI-related frauds. This agency should be employed with sophisticated mechanisms as used by fraudsters so that the work to eradicate such frauds in society will get easier.