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Claim
Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and RBI governor Shaktikanta Das endorse the government’s new investment project.
Fact
Viral video found to be a deepfake.
A 2-minute 43-second “breaking news” report, purportedly showing Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and RBI governor Shaktikanta Das endorsing the government’s investment platform, has gone viral across social media platforms. According to the video, every citizen who invests ₹21,000 in this project would receive ₹15,00,000 in the first month.
We received this video on our Whatsapp tipline (9999499044), too, with users requesting us to fact-check it.
Fact Check
Newschecker ran a keyword search for “Nirmala Sitharaman Shaktikanta Das investment platform”, which did not throw up any credible news reports. Also, we noticed that the lip movements of the two seemed completely unnatural and were not completely in sync with the speech, raising our doubts on whether it was AI-manipulated.
We then ran a reverse image search of the keyframe featuring Sitharaman, which led us to this News18 interview, dated September 16, 2024. At no point in the 33:42 interview did Sitharaman mention any investment or trading platform, indicating that the viral video was digitally altered.
Similarly, we ran a reverse image search of the keyframe featuring Das, which led us to this post monetary press conference, livestreamed by RBI on October 9, 2024, where he clearly did not mention any such trading/investment scheme.
We next ran the video past TrueMedia, an AI-content detection tool, which found “substantial evidence of manipulation”, pointing towards AI-generated voice clones too.
“The transcript reads like an advertisement or promotional content rather than a genuine news interview or statement from a government official. The language is overly promotional and lacks the formal tone typically associated with official government communications. The claims made about the investment platform, such as guaranteed high returns with minimal investment, are characteristic of scams or misleading advertisements. Additionally, the inclusion of a website link at the end further suggests that this is a fabricated piece designed to promote a service rather than a real transcript of a spoken interview,” read the tool’s report.
Newschecker then ran the audio past ElevenLabs, a voice AI research and deployment company, which said there was 58% probability that the voice was generated with ElevenLabs. We ran the audio past Resemble AI’s Deepfake Detector, which stated that the voice was “Fake”, further confirming that the viral video was a deepfake. Hive Moderation’s AI audio detection tool stated that the voice was “99.8% likely to be AI generated”.
Newschecker also ran the link attached to the viral video past Scam Detector, a major online fraud prevention resource, which marked the website as “Suspicious. Unsafe. Doubtful”. “The algorithm detected high-risk activity related to phishing, spamming, and other factors noted in the Suspicious. Unsafe. Doubtful. tags above. Long story short, we recommend staying away from this website,” read the report.
We also came across this press release by the RBI, dated November 19, 2024, cautioning the public about “deepfake” videos being circulated on social media that falsely depict governor Shaktikanta Das endorsing investment schemes. “RBI clarifies that its officials are not involved in or supporting any such activities and these videos are fake. RBI does not give any such financial investment advice,” read the statement. News reports on RBI’s clarification can be seen here and here.
Also Read: Gautam Adani Arrested? AI Generated Image Shared Amid Industrialist’s Indictment In US
Conclusion
Viral video of Nirmala Sitharaman and Shaktikanta Das endorsing an investment project found to be a deepfake.
Result: Altered Media
Sources
TrueMedia AI detection tool
Resemble AI’s Deepfake Detector
ElevenLabs AI voice detection tool
Hive Moderation tool
Scam Detector
Youtube video, News18, September 16, 2024
Youtube video, RBI, October 9, 2024
RBI press release, November 19, 2024
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