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Almost 90 per cent of Indians have encountered fake or AI-generated celebrity endorsements this year, losing an average of Rs 34,000 to scams. The data comes from McAfee’s annual “Most Dangerous Celebrity: Deepfake Deception List”, which highlights how cybercriminals are using celebrity names and likenesses to deceive people and extract money.
Shah Rukh Khan tops the list in India as the most exploited celebrity, followed by Alia Bhatt, Elon Musk, Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Cristiano Ronaldo. The global list also features MrBeast, Lionel Messi, Taylor Swift, Kim Kardashian and members of the Korean band BTS. Using AI-generated deepfakes, scammers trick victims into transferring money by promoting fake endorsements, giveaways and directing them to scam websites, phishing links and malicious downloads.
The report finds that around 60 per cent of Indians have seen AI-generated or deepfake content featuring influencers and online personalities, underscoring how quickly deceptive content is spreading. It also stresses that celebrities are targets, not perpetrators, of these scams. With just three seconds of someone’s voice, fraudsters can generate convincing audio deepfakes without consent.
The McAfee survey, conducted online in August, examined the impact of scams on consumers across Australia, France, Germany, India, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, polling 8,600 adults. McAfee adds that its Deepfake Detector tool can help users analyse suspicious text, emails and videos to flag potential fakes, including deepfakes and phishing attempts.
