Fact Check: News Presenter’s Deepfake Promotes Fraudulent Online Gaming App On Social Media

New Delhi (Vishvas News): One of the world’s most popular YouTubers, MrBeast and a BBC Hindi news presenter were seen promoting an online gaming application on Instagram. Upon investigation, Vishvas News found it to be their deepfake to deceive unsuspecting people online. 

Claim:

Instagram account Goodsense 530 shared a video of a BBC Hindi news presenter promoting Mr Beast’s new online casino gaming app. The archive link of the video can be found here.

Similar videos depict Mr Beast giving away money and cryptocurrency.  

Investigation

Vishvas News first analysed the video content featuring a BBC Hindi news presenter discussing the launch of a Casino gaming app by the richest internet creator, Mr Beast, planning to give away ‘free money’, worth millions to users who download the application on their phones. Additionally, he also shares his upcoming plans with two other podcasters.

Next, we used verification platforms InVid and Yandex Reverse Image to identify Mr Beast and two other people discussing the online gaming app in the video. We found a YouTube video featuring Colin and Samir, YouTube creators and podcasters, discussing Mr Beast’s journey and growth.

Mr Beast, also known as James Stephen ‘Jimmy’ Donaldson was born on May 7, 1998. He is an American YouTuber and online personality. Renowned for his fast-paced and high-production videos, Mr Beasts’s content often includes elaborative challenges and large giveaways. With over 231 million subscribers, he is the second most-subscribed individual on YouTube and the second-most-subscribed channel overall.

The full video of Mr Beast and Colin-Samir’s conversation can be found here. 

Investigating the BBC presenter, Sarika Singh, in the video through Google Lens Reverse Image, we came across her Instagram story:

She confirmed the same to us.

“Deepfakes use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to make a video of someone by manipulating their face or body. Such deepfakes can be created using various free and open source tools available online and the easiest way to identify them is to spot the irregularities,” AI expert Azhar Machawe shared with Vishvas News.

How to spot a deepfake?

This deepfake video appeared on Instagram this week featuring the YouTube creators purportedly endorsing an investment opportunity. Simultaneously, likenesses of BBC Hindi news presenter Sarika Singh were used to promote a well-known scam.

Usually, such videos come with a free offer but the viral video purportedly showing Mr Beast complicates this as the YouTuber’s known history of giving away cars, iPhones, millions of money and online treats, making the video more convincing. However, on closer inspection, viewers and listeners can spot something suspicious because of the discrepancies in lipsync movements.

Moreover, visual clues and verbal errors are also pronounced in the segment which features the BBC presenter, which can be a useful way to identify something suspicious.

What does the law say about deepfakes?

As per news reports, creating or spreading a deepfake content could result in a fine of 100,000 rupees and up to three years of imprisonment.

The government has advised social media platforms to remove flagged content within 36 hours, failing to which can lead to legal consequences, as per Indian law.

The page that shared the deepfake video is now showing an error.