New Delhi: Sophisticated AI tools have made it easy for anyone to create compelling videos, advertisements, and content using anyone’s likeness by cloning voices and manipulating authentic videos. Among Indian celebrities, Shah Rukh Khan and Alia Bhatt top McAfee India’s 2025 ‘Most Dangerous Celebrities: Deepfake Deception List’.
McAfee’s research shows that 90 per cent of Indians have encountered fake or AI-generated celebrity endorsements, with victims losing an average of Rs 34,500 to such scams. About 60 per cent have also seen AI-generated or deepfake content featuring influencers or online personalities, not just mainstream celebrities. This highlights how rapidly deceptive content is spreading.
All it takes is three seconds of someone’s voice, and India’s favourite celebrities can unwittingly become part of fraudsters’ scams.
McAfee, which offers online security and protection solutions, conducted an online survey in August to examine the impact of scams on consumers across India, Australia, Germany, France, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
“Deepfakes have changed the game for cybercriminals; they’re no longer hacking systems—they’re hacking human trust,” said Pratim Mukherjee, Senior Director of Engineering, McAfee.
Mukherjee added that India’s celebrity culture and massive online engagement make the threat even more dangerous.
“Technology can now effortlessly mimic the voices, faces, and mannerisms of people we admire. In a country where millions engage with celebrity and influencer content daily, such fakes can spread instantly. It’s becoming harder to tell what’s real and what’s not—making awareness, caution, and reliable protection tools more critical than ever,” he said.
Celebrity deepfakes are being used to mimic promotions for skincare products, giveaways, and crypto or trading schemes. In January 2024, an online game, ‘Aviator: Escape Apocalypse’, used deepfake ads of Khan, Kapil Dev, and Sachin Tendulkar.
The list goes on
The persistent use of AI to create deepfakes has also prompted multiple celebrities to take legal recourse. In September, Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan approached the Delhi High Court for protection of their personality rights. In 2022, Amitabh Bachchan too had approached the court when his photo and voice were used in a Kaun Banega Crorepati lottery scam.
Recently, actor Girija Oak, who acted with Khan in Jawan (2023), spoke of how her AI-generated images have been circulating online. She shared a video on Instagram and spoke of its impact, especially on her 12-year-old son.
“These obscene images of his mother are something he will see one day. He’ll know they’re not real—they’re AI-generated, just as everyone who sees them now knows they’re fake—but they still give people a cheap thrill, a kind of titillation. That is scary. I know I can’t do much to stop it, but doing nothing doesn’t feel right either,” Oak said.
Content creator Raj Shamani, known for his podcast, Figuring Out, has asked his legal team to seek an injunction order against social media channels and websites that use his name, persona, or other attributes. The hearing is scheduled for 17 November.
(Edited by Prasanna Bachchhav)