How YouTubers & AI Drive The Illegal Aviator Game

LEARN WITH BOOM

Understanding the nuances between various forms of manipulated media is important to differentiate fact from fiction. Here's a breakdown:  

1. Morphed Images/Videos:

Morphing involves altering a portion or the entirety of an image or video, often by blending or distorting existing elements.

2. Cropped Images/Videos:

Cropping involves removing parts of an image or video, often to isolate a specific detail and present it out of context.  

3. AI-Generated Content:

This encompasses any image, video, audio, or text generated using artificial intelligence by providing a specific prompt to the AI model. 

4. Deepfakes (Deep Learning + Fake):

A specific type of AI-generated content that uses deep learning techniques to create highly realistic synthetic media, often involving the likeness of a real person.  For example, replacing one person's face with another in a video, altering lip movements to match a fabricated/generated audio, voice cloning.

TL;DR: All deepfakes are AI-generated, but not all AI-generated content is a deepfake. 

While it’s important to understand the differences between these terms, these tactics often overlap. For example, a cropped video might be further morphed or combined with AI-generated elements.

DECODE

Inside the Aviator Scam: How YouTubers And AI Boost An Illegal Game

The lure for quick riches: The notification pinged on Biswajeet Swain's smartphone, a siren call promising instant wealth in September 2024. He downloaded an APK (android package kit) file of the massively popular Aviator game from what appeared to be a ‘reliable’ third-party source. The Aviator game tricks users with fake promises of wealth, leading many into financial ruin. 

Loss & fake testimonials: 24-year-old Swain had played the game and lost Rs 35,000, the money that his family had given him to buy a laptop. He decided to give it another shot to recover the lost money. “The game seemed genuine since so many people were making money and celebrities were promoting it,” the engineering student told Decode’s Alishan Jafri. Months later, he realised that the videos were made with Artificial Intelligence and the testimonials were fake. 

Is it legal?: The Aviator game, though hugely popular, is not legal in India. 

Social media's role in amplifying illegal betting app: Decode’s investigation revealed that social media platforms have been extensively used to make this illegal betting app visible to vulnerable users. Meta's ad library exposed a staggering network of 2,000 active advertisements, while YouTube harbored at least 75 channels promoting these gambling prediction schemes, some with follower counts exceeding 33 million. Telegram, meanwhile, has at least 18 groups where scammers promise to double your investment by playing on your behalf. 

EXPLAINED

What Can Linking Voter ID With Aadhaar Mean?

• The Election Commission of India (ECI) is considering linking voter ID cards with Aadhaar to remove duplicate and fraudulent entries. 

• Experts told Hera Rizwan that Aadhaar-voter ID linkage could lead to mass surveillance, voter disenfranchisement, and may reinforce fraudulent identities instead of eliminating them.

• Aadhaar linking could complicate voting rights, especially for those who retain voter IDs in hometowns while updating Aadhaar addresses for practical needs.

'FAKE NEWS’ YOU ALMOST FELL FOR

🔍 Does this video show a pastor asking Jesus Christ to kill Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath? Find out in 🔗 Srijit Das, Shobana MR & Nidhi Jacob’s ↗️ fact-check.

🔍 A viral photo of a Chennai Super Kings (CSK) supporter holding up a placard with abuses against Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb is edited and fake. 🔗 Srijit Das ↗️ debunked the claim.

🔍 A 2013 video of US astronaut Sunita Williams at a press conference talking about her Indian heritage, taking a Ganesha idol, Bhagavad Gita with her on space missions, went viral linking it to her recent return to Earth after nine months on the International Space Station. Read 🔗 Anmol Alphonso’s ↗️ fact-check.

🅱️ RECOMMENDS

This week's recommendation is: How to detect deepfakes with AI

Verified By Boom is written by Divya Chandra, edited by Adrija Bose and designed by H Shiva Roy Chowdhury.

If you have suggestions about this newsletter or want us to conduct workshops on specific topics, drop us a line at 👉 [email protected] and we will get back to you in a jiffy. Thanks for reading. See you next week.👋

—🖤 Liked what you read? Give us a shoutout! 📢

—Become A BOOM Member. Support Us!

—Stop.Verify.Share - Use Our Tipline: 7700906588

—Join Our Community of TruthSeekers