#FactCheck- Viral ‘Modi Massage Video’ Claim False, Features Content Creators

Introduction

Digital Arrests are a form of scam that involves the digital restraint of individuals. These restraints can vary from restricting access to the account(s), and digital platforms, to implementing measures to prevent further digital activities or being restrained on video calling or being monitored through video calling. Typically, these scams target vulnerable individuals who are unfamiliar with digital fraud tactics, making them more susceptible to manipulation. These scams often target the victims on allegations of drug trafficking, money laundering, falsified documents, etc. These are serious crimes and these scammers scare the victim into thinking that either their identities were used to commit these crimes or they have committed these crimes. Recently there has been an uptick in the digital fraud scams in India highlighting the growing concerns.

The Legality of Digital Arrests in India

There is no legal provision for law enforcement to conduct ‘arrests’ via video calls or online monitoring. If you receive such calls, it is a clear scam. In fact, recently enacted new criminal laws do not provide for any provision for law enforcement agencies conducting a digital arrest.  The law only provides for service of the summons and the proceedings in an electronic mode. 

The Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023 provides for the summons to be served electronically under section 63. The section defines the form of summons. It states that every summons served electronically shall be encrypted and bear the image of the seal of the Court or digital signature. Further, according to section 532 of the BNSS, the trial and proceedings may be held in electronic mode, by use of electronic communication or by the use of audio-video electronic means. 

Modus Operandi

Under digital arrest scams, the scammer makes a connection via video calls (WhatsApp calls, skype, etc) with the victim over their alleged involvement in crimes (financial, drug trafficking, etc) in bogus charges. The victims are intimidated that the arrest will take place soon and till the time the arresting officers do not reach the victim they are to remain on the call and be under digital surveillance and not contact anyone during the ongoing investigation. 

During this period, the scammers start collecting information from the victim to confirm their identity and create an atmosphere in which multiple senior officials are on the victim’s case and they are investigating the case thoroughly. By this time, the victim, scared out of their wits, sits through this arrest and it is then that the scammers posing as law enforcement officials make comments that they can avoid arrest by paying a certain amount of the fines to the accounts that they specify.  This monitoring/ surveillance continues till the time the victim makes the transfers to the accounts provided by the scammers. These are the common manipulation tactics used by scammers in digital arrest fraud.

Recent Cyber Arrest Cases

• Recently a 35-year-old NBCC official was duped of Rs 55 lakh in a 'digital arrest' scam. Posing as customs officials, fraudsters claimed her details were linked to intercepted illegal items and a pending arrest. They kept her on video calls, convincing her to transfer Rs 55 lakh to avoid money laundering charges. After the transfer, the scammers vanished. A police investigation traced the funds to a fake company, leading to the arrest of suspects.
• Another recent case involved a neurologist who was duped Rs 2.81 crores in a ‘digital arrest’ scam. Fraudsters claimed her phone number and Aadhaar was linked to accounts transferring funds to an Individual. Under pressure, she was convinced to undergo “verification” and made multiple transactions over two days. The scammers threatened legal consequences for money laundering if she didn’t comply. Now a police investigation is ongoing, and her immense financial loss highlights the severity of this cybercrime.
• One another case took place where the victim was duped of Rs 7.67 crores in a prolonged ‘digital arrest’ scam over three months. Fraudsters posing as TRAI officials claimed complaints against her phone number and threatened to suspend it, alleging illegal use of another number linked to her Aadhaar. Pressured and manipulated through video calls, the victim was coerced into transferring large sums, even taking an Rs 80 lakh loan. The case is under investigation as authorities pursue the cybercriminals behind the massive fraud.

Best Practices

• Do not panic when you get any calls where sudden unexpected news is shared with you. Scammers thrive on the panic that they create.
• Do not share personal details such as Aadhaar number, PAN number etc with unknown or suspect entities. Be cautious of your personal and financial information such as credit card numbers, OTPs, or any other passwords with anyone.
• If individuals contact, claiming to be government officials, always verify their identities by contacting the entity through the proper channels. 
• Report and block any fraudulent communications that are received and mark them as Spam. This would further inform other users if they see the caller ID being marked as fraud or spam.
• If you have been defrauded then report about the same to the authorities so that action can be taken and authorities can arrest the fraudsters. 
• Do not transfer any money as part of ‘fines’ or ‘dues’ to the accounts that these calls or messages link to. 
• In case of any threat, issue or discrepancy, file a complaint at cybercrime.gov.in or helpline number 1930. You can also seek assistance from the CyberPeace helpline at +91 9570000066.

References: 

• https://www.cyberpeace.org/resources/blogs/digital-arrest-fraud 
• https://www.business-standard.com/india-news/what-is-digital-house-arrest-find-out-how-to-avoid-this-new-scam-124052400799_1.html
• https://www.the420.in/ias-ips-officers-major-generals-doctors-and-professors-fall-victim-to-digital-arrest-losing-crores-stay-alert-read-5-real-cases-inside/
• https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/senior-nbcc-official-duped-in-case-of-digital-arrest-3-arrested-delhi-police-9588418/#:~:text=Of%20the%20duped%20amount%2C%20Rs,a%20Delhi%20police%20officer%20said (case study 1)
• https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/lucknow-sgpgims-professor-duped-of-rs-2-81-crore-in-digital-arrest-scam/articleshow/112521530.cms (case study 2)
• https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/bits-prof-duped-of-7-67cr-cops-want-cbi-probe-in-case/articleshow/109514200.cms (case study 3)

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A video of Bollywood actor Salman Khan is being widely circulated on social media, in which he can allegedly be heard saying that he will soon join Asaduddin Owaisi’s party, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM). Along with the video, a purported image of Salman Khan with Asaduddin Owaisi is also being shared. Social media users are claiming that Salman Khan is set to join the AIMIM party.

CyberPeace research found the viral claim to be false. Our research revealed that Salman Khan has not made any such statement, and that both the viral video and the accompanying image are AI-generated.

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Claim

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Social media users claim that Salman Khan has announced his decision to join AIMIM.On 19 January 2026, a Facebook user shared the viral video with the caption, “What did Salman say about Owaisi?” In the video, Salman Khan can allegedly be heard saying that he is going to join Owaisi’s party. (The link to the post, its archived version, and screenshots are available.)

• https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1505922567577884 
• https://archive.ph/1HQEp 

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Fact Check: 

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To verify the claim, we first searched Google using relevant keywords. However, no credible or reliable media reports were found supporting the claim that Salman Khan is joining AIMIM.

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In the next step of verification, we extracted key frames from the viral video and conducted a reverse image search using Google Lens. This led us to a video posted on Salman Khan’s official Instagram account on 21 April 2023. In the original video, Salman Khan is seen talking about an event scheduled to take place in Dubai. A careful review of the full video confirmed that no statement related to AIMIM or Asaduddin Owaisi is made.

• https://www.instagram.com/beingsalmankhan/reel/CrTsC-soHsq/?hl=en 

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Further analysis of the viral clip revealed that Salman Khan’s voice sounds unnatural and robotic. To verify this, we scanned the video using AURGIN AI, an AI-generated content detection tool. According to the tool’s analysis, the viral video was generated using artificial intelligence.

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Conclusion

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Salman Khan has not announced that he is joining the AIMIM party. The viral video and the image circulating on social media are AI-generated and manipulated.

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Every year, a few days before Diwali, our phone starts filling up. Rangoli photos, family reunions, new cars, sweet boxes, "we're off to Goa" stories. We enjoy all of it. We also know that somewhere, a scammer is enjoying it too, and taking notes. Festivals bring out our generosity, but also our hurry habit of sharing everything online. Fraudsters have learned to use all. So this is not a lecture about staying off the internet. It is a short guide to enjoying the festival online without handing someone the keys to your house, your bank account or your phone.

When the discount is the trap

A branded phone at half price. A timer counting down from ten minutes. “Only 8 pieces left.” None of it is new, and all of it works, because the goal is to stop the buyer from thinking. A person who pauses will compare prices, look up the seller and wonder why anyone would sell an iPhone at a loss. A person who thinks the offer vanishes in ten minutes will skip all of that.

Lucky draws and “Diwali gifts” are the same trick with a different costume. The message says a hamper has been won and a small delivery or processing fee is needed. There is no hamper. In Secunderabad, a woman reportedly lost Rs 1,40,000 to exactly this kind of festive gift offer. One small fee, then another, then a request for card details, and the money is gone. 

A simple habit beats most of these: never trust the link. If a deal arrives in a message, open the brand’s own app or type the address by hand and look for the same offer. Real ones will be sitting there. Fake ones never are.

The file that looks like a greeting

Of all the festive tricks, the fake APK does the most damage. An APK is just the installer for an Android app. Apps from the Play Store get checked. A file that lands on WhatsApp or SMS gets checked by nobody, and tapping “install” hands it the run of the phone.

It arrives dressed as something harmless: a Diwali greeting app, a shopping app, a “pending challan”, a bank reward points update, a wedding invitation in file form. Once installed, it can read messages, which means the OTPs coming from the bank now reach someone else too. Some versions let the fraudster watch and control the screen.

There’s a case from Hyderabad that shows how ordinary it looks. A 69-year-old man in Azampura called a customer care number for a delivery app that turned out to be fake, was sent an installation file, and ended up losing more than Rs 1,02,000. No drama, no threats. Just a helpful voice and one tap. 

A few rules cover nearly all of it. Apps come from the official store only, and even there the developer name and download count deserve a look. “Install unknown apps” should stay off in settings. Banks do not send APK files for KYC, ever. Customer care numbers belong to the official app or website, never to a search result or a comment under a post. And if a relative sends a file, a phone call to them first is cheap insurance, since their account may have been hijacked without their knowing.

If a suspicious app has already gone in, switch on airplane mode straight away, uninstall it, call the bank from a different phone and change passwords from a clean device. Speed matters more than being sure.

Fake websites that look almost right

Copying a website’s look is easy. Copying its address is impossible, so scammers settle for an address that’s close enough to pass at a glance. A swapped letter, an extra hyphen, “.shop” or “.xyz” at the end instead of “.com”. On a phone screen, in a hurry, with the kids shouting about crackers, nobody notices.

The padlock icon doesn’t settle the question either. It only says the connection is encrypted, and scam sites get padlocks as easily as real ones. What does help is a slow read of the address before typing anything in, and a bit of suspicion toward any page reached from an ad or a forwarded link. Searching for the brand and going from there takes ten seconds.

Other giveaways are boring but reliable. No cash on delivery. Only UPI or bank transfer accepted. No return policy, no working phone number, no real address. Prices lower than every other shop on earth. A page with all of those is rarely a bargain.

Holiday bookings deserve their own warning. Around Diwali, fake resort and homestay listings pop up everywhere: a smart advertisement, a “manager” chatting on WhatsApp, a convincing receipt, and then nothing after the advance is paid. Booking through the property’s official site or a known platform, and confirming on the number listed there, closes most of that door.

What the post gives away

Not every risk comes as a link. Some of it comes from the timeline itself.

“Off to Goa for a week, can’t wait!” is also a message to anyone who’d like to know when the house is empty. Holiday pictures can wait until everyone’s back. The same goes for boarding passes and train tickets, which carry a barcode and booking reference that can be used to alter or cancel a trip. They look like souvenirs. They’re closer to keys.

Photos have a habit of showing more than intended. The family standing at the front door can reveal the house number, the nameplate and the lane. A school uniform shows the school. A live location tag at the airport, then the hotel, then the restaurant, draws a neat map of where the family is and where it isn’t. Pictures of cash envelopes, jewellery and new gadgets bring likes, and also attention nobody asked for.

A useful test before hitting post: what could a stranger work out from this, and what could they do with it? If the honest answer makes the stomach drop a little, crop it, blur it or save it for later. Children’s pictures deserve extra thought, because routines are easy to piece together from a few festive posts.

Charging on the way home

Millions travel home for Diwali, and railway stations, airports and bus stands are packed. Phones are at 4%. A free USB charging point is right there, and it looks like a blessing.

It can also be a problem. A USB cable carries power and data together, so a tampered port or a planted cable can try to push malware onto a phone or pull information off it. This is called juice jacking. Modern phones usually ask whether the connected device should be trusted, but a tired traveller taps “Allow” without reading, and that tap is exactly what the attacker is hoping for.

The fix is cheap. Carry a charger and use a regular wall socket. Keep a power bank charged before leaving home. If a USB port is the only choice, use a charge-only cable or a small data blocker, and refuse any prompt asking to trust the device. A cable found lying around, or one handed over by a friendly stranger, goes nowhere near the phone. Banking and payment apps also don’t belong on public Wi-Fi, however urgent the transfer feels.

Small things worth doing this week

Two-factor authentication on email, social media and banking takes five minutes and blocks a surprising number of break-ins. A quick look at privacy settings before the festive photos go up is worth the same five minutes. And a short chat with parents and grandparents helps more than any app: show them what a fake message looks like, and tell them that no bank, courier or company will ever ask for an OTP.

If money does go missing, time is the one thing that counts. The national cybercrime helpline is 1930, and complaints can be filed at cybercrime.gov.in. Reporting within the first few hours gives the best chance of freezing the transaction before it travels further.

Light the diyas, lock the phone

None of this means a quieter Diwali. The sweets, the lights and the photographs are the point of the whole thing. It just takes the same instinct that bolts the front door at night, pointed at the phone in the hand.

Let the diyas be the only thing on display. The OTPs, the location and the travel dates can stay at home.

Wishing everyone a safe, bright and happy Diwali.

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