45% Indian consumers fallen victim to deepfake shopping scam, reveals McAfee's survey

Nearly half (45%) of Indian consumers say they or someone they know has fallen victim to a deepfake shopping scam, reveals McAfee’s Global Festive Shopping Survey. Of the 56% of these people who lost money to the scam, 46% lost over Rs 41,500. As the vibrant lights of Diwali dim and the festive season concludes, it's time to reflect on the joyous celebrations and the less cheerful reality of online scams that targeted festive shoppers. 78% of Indians are more concerned about online shopping scams this festive season than they were a year ago, particularly due to the rise in deepfake scams.

As per the survey, 66% of Indians plan to do more online shopping this year than last year. Of those people, 68% report finding better discounts and offers online and 60% say online shopping was easier and faster than in-store shopping. However, the convenience and potential discounts associated with online shopping may come at a price.

The survey uncovered a worrying trend of significant rise in online scams impacting consumers during the festive shopping rush from October 1 through October 28. McAfee’s Labs team analyzed over 800 unsolicited, festive-related emails. The volume of these emails spiked on Fridays and Saturdays, aligning with a trend of increased scam activity at the end of each week and suggesting that scam-related risks are present throughout the festive season and consumers should stay aware.

In addition to this, they reported protecting customers against 24,000 suspicious or malicious URLs during the festive season. Consumer interactions with these malicious links spiked significantly in the leadup to key events. For instance, the days prior to Durga Ashtami and Diwali, pointing to savvy scammers targeting people during peak shopping windows. Many of these malicious links masqueraded as legitimate shopping sites like Flipkart or Amazon, promoting implausible discounts of up to 99%.

“Diwali is special time of year that many look forward to – from consumers, to retailers, to cybercrooks. With AI-powered tools, scammers can now more quickly and easily create incredibly realistic fake celebrity endorsements and near-perfect imitations of trusted brand messages and websites. We’re urging people to stay cautious, think twice about deals that seem too good to be true, and use the best online tools to protect their information," said Pratim Mukherjee, Senior Director of Engineering at McAfee.

Moreover, 95% of Indians, in light of inflation, plan to engage in related deal-seeking festive shopping behaviours while 90% said they would consider starting festive shopping earlier than normal in order to find the best possible deals. 41% said they were more likely to jump on a good deal immediately when they see it. The reason behind this being festive season driving a shift in consumer behavior, with many Indians adjusting their shopping habits in response to inflation, the hunt for deals and increased social media influence.

Did AI led to scams?

The survey found that 74% of Indians believe cybercriminals are more prevalent during the festive season, making the period especially risky and stressful for online shoppers, especially as AI-driven digital scams become increasingly common. Notedly, 84% of Indians are more concerned about deepfakes now than they were a year ago while 39% of Indians say they encounter the most fake messages via email, followed by 31% through text and 30% on social media.

When asked about the types of scam messages they’ve received, 30% mentioned messages about purchases they didn’t make. 37% reported fake missed delivery or delivery problem notifications, 24% saw security alerts from popular e-commerce platforms or notifications regarding account updates, and 43% received messages about urgent issues with their credit card or banking account.

Social Media Influence

A significant percentage of Indian shoppers say their purchasing decisions are influenced by social media and celebrity endorsements. Scammers are increasingly exploiting this trend, to deceive consumers. Nearly half (47%) of Indians say they or someone they know has purchased or provided payment for something that either came from a celebrity or appeared endorsed by a celebrity, that then turned out to be a scam. 31% of Indians are likely to make a purchase from a new retailer found via social media if the deal is appealing.