A video purportedly showing a news broadcast featuring an interview of cricketer Virat Kohli endorsing an online casino and promising its new users a guaranteed win of Rs 50,000 within three days is a deepfake.
In the viral video, Kohli can be heard saying, "I conceived this idea a few years ago when I realised the significance of bringing joy to people through sports while also earning from it. That's why I have created an online casino where I have enhanced the jackpot winning odds by 250 percent, and it's guaranteed that new users will win Rs 50,000 within three days."
The news presenter in the video is also observed corroborating the same information and encouraging viewers to download the application to generate income from it.
BOOM found that the video is a deepfake. In the original interview with American journalist Graham Bensinger, Kohli did not make any declaration about launching an online casino of his own.
The video is being shared with a Hindi caption that translates to, "Now it's official most popular app in India 92% players won more than 600,000INR today".
(Original Text in Hindi: अब भारत में आधिकारिक सबसे लोकप्रिय ऐप 92% खिलाड़ियों ने आज 600,000INR से अधिक जीते)
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Fact Check
BOOM ran a keyword search related to the claim but found no credible news reports confirming that Virat Kohli announced the launch of his own online casino application, along with promises of such monetary benefits for its users.
We then searched for Kohli's interview and observed that the original video is an excerpt from the interaction between the Indian cricketer and American journalist Graham Bensinger. The interview was uploaded on Bensinger's official YouTube channel on December 22, 2023.
In the original interview, Kohli can be observed seated on the same sofa, wearing the same black T-shirt sporting the logo of the lifestyle brand One8.
Throughout the interview, we observed Kohli discussing his childhood, cricket career and personal life. However, we found no instance where he made any announcement about launching an online casino, promising lucrative monetary rewards for its users.
BOOM has already published several reports about the proliferation of fake advertisements on Facebook, using AI voice cloning to promote questionable investment schemes and fraudulent betting applications.
Previously, BOOM had debunked several deepfake videos featuring Reliance Industries Limited chairman Mukesh Ambani, TV anchors and sports personalities where it appears they are promoting various products and falsely promising viewers assured financial gains.
We also reached out to experts to examine the video forensically. itisaar.ai - a deepfake detection tool built by the Image Analysis and Biometric Lab (IAB) at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Jodhpur, determined that the clip contained a generative AI voice.
