Big B-ait: How images of Bachchan, other celebs are being used for social media scams

This is the latest in the line of scams on social media platforms

The post on Instagram shows Big B being escorted by two police officers on both sides. 'He revealed a secret on live air! Now his career is over!' screams the headline at the top with a few more lines of text above the image where Amitabh Bachchan appears being caught unawares of the camera.

That's enough to jolt you on a lazy Sunday morning and prompt you to hurriedly hit the 'Learn More' link at the end of the text. Little you would know that the entire premise is a sham, and it only leads you to a fraudulent investment scheme.

Fake news on celebrities seems to have come up as the latest bait rogue elements are using to abuse social media platforms. Once you bite the bait, you're in for a fraud.

Social platforms like Instagram, Facebook and X allow advertisers to target specific demographics based on user behaviour, location, and interest, making it easier for scams to be tailored effectively while also making it harder for the average user to distinguish from legitimate offers.

Layered scam

A Moneycontrol probe showed that when the 'Learn More' link in the Big B post is hit, it leads to a website disguised as a webpage of a popular, credible news website. The page has a fake news article with the headline, Fans advocate for Amitabh Bachchan's release after controversial interview, with a fictitious interview where the Bollywood icon is shown endorsing a platform called 'Immediate 8.7 Alrex' behind his additional income. It suggests that Bachchan has gained immense financial success in minimal effort by using the services offered by the platform.

The fraudsters have tailored their weapons by widening the ambit beyond celebrities. Moneycontrol found images of personalities like journalist Faye D'souza being used as a trap. The platform is purported to be a 'software solution' designed to connect traders with brokerage services offering cryptocurrency, forex, CFDs, and stocks.

'Immediate 8.7 Alrex' has no credible registration with financial regulatory authorities. The platform's self-description mirrors numerous investment scams that have surfaced over the years, particularly those promoting quick and guaranteed returns in markets known for their volatility.

Users have reported that these websites disappear once a significant number of individuals fall prey to the scam, leaving them with financial losses and no recourse.

What Meta says

Despite stringent guidelines the social media platforms have in place for ad approvals, scammers map their ways to circumvent these measures. "We remove content when we are made aware of it and when it violates our policies whether it was created by AI or a person. Advertisers running ads across Meta technologies must follow our Community Standards and our Advertising Standards. We use automated and, in some instances, manual review to enforce our policies," a Meta spokesperson said.

"Earlier this week, we also announced that we’re testing the use of facial recognition technology to help protect people from celeb-bait ads and enable faster account recovery. We hope that by sharing our approach, we can help inform our industry’s defences against online scammers," the spokesperson added.

India has seen a sharp rise in cyber scams over recent years, with fraudsters increasingly leveraging social media and online advertising to lure victims. Reports from Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) indicate that cybercrime cases have nearly doubled in the last few years, with 2023 alone seeing over 1.4 million reported incidents—a significant increase from previous years.

A substantial portion of these scams revolves around fraudulent financial schemes. According to a recent NCRB (National Crime Records Bureau) report, financial fraud remains one of the most common forms of cybercrime in India, with cases linked to cryptocurrency, Forex trading, and digital investment scams becoming alarmingly common.

Experts say the increase in digital scams is linked to India’s fast-growing use of online services and a general lack of awareness about online safety. Cybercriminals are now using AI tools to create targeted ads that look a lot like real opportunities, making it hard for users to spot scams.

This underscores the need for stricter regulation and more effective cyber literacy initiatives to protect vulnerable users.