Lawyer duped by deepfake voice scam, helpless as authorities allegedly fail to act | Delhi news

Girraj Pandey, a lawyer from Palwal, Haryana, fell victim to a devastating deepfake scam this left him not only out of pocket but also without any immediate help from the authorities or his bank.
What started as a routine day for Pandey quickly turned into a nightmare when he received a call from someone who sounded exactly like a close friend, asking him for a financial favor. Trusting the familiar voiceover call, Pandey transferred the money without hesitation, only to realize later that he had been scammed.
“The similarity of the voice and the way the person addressed me was exactly like my friend. I didn’t think twice,” recalled a visibly distressed Pandey.
The scammer had cleverly sent him fake SMS alerts indicating deposits of Rs 25,000 and Rs 45,000 into his account, leading Pandey to believe the request was genuine. “I saw the amounts credited and immediately transferred Rs 25,000 to the account, and was about to make the second transfer, as I have done in the past,” explained Pandey.

However, the scam was quickly unraveled when Pandey realized that no further transfers were possible due to an account limit issue. Upon checking his balance, he discovered that the money had been taken. “I called the scammer, but by then it was too late.”
Pandey immediately contacted the Cybercrime hotline in 1930, but his relief efforts were in vain. “The investigating officer, Vinod Kumar, told me that their system was down and another officer was on leave. They did not help me at all,” shared Pandey, adding to his frustration.
Despite lodging a formal complaint, there has been no significant progress in the investigation, Pandey said. Her complaint was forwarded to ECOTECH-3 for further investigation, but no immediate action was taken, the victim alleged.
To make matters worse, it was a public holiday, leaving victims like Pandey without any recourse or support from their financial institutions. “I’m stuck in this loop of no help, from the police or the bank. I can’t believe this is happening to me,” Pandey said.
This type of scam, which includes deepfake technology, is becoming alarmingly common. Scammers use advanced artificial intelligence (AI) to mimic the voices of trusted individuals, making it nearly impossible to distinguish between a real call and a fake one. The cyber department has warned that these AI-generated impersonations often target people with urgent requests, taking advantage of the victim’s trust and familiarity with the impersonated voice.