Deepfake Website Scams: How to Identify Them

A deepfake website scam uses artificial intelligence-generated or manipulated content to make a fraudulent website look like a genuine website, organisation, or person. Fraudsters may create convincing text, images, logos, layouts and other visual elements to make a fake website appear credible. Such websites may imitate financial institutions, government services, businesses or other trusted organisations and use familiar branding to gain visitors' confidence. The main objective may be to collect personal information, financial details, login credentials or payments. A fraudulent website may also redirect visitors to malicious applications, downloads or links that can expose devices or accounts to further risks. The website may not copy every feature of the genuine platform. A misleading domain name, familiar-looking design and fraudulent request may be sufficient to deceive a visitor. Checking the website address carefully, accessing services through official channels and avoiding requests for confidential information can help reduce the risk of falling victim to a deepfake website scam.

How do deepfake website scams work?

Deepfake website scams typically combine impersonation, deceptive links and requests for sensitive information or money.

A scam may follow this pattern:

1. Create a convincing imitation: Fraudsters build a website that resembles a genuine organisation.
2. Promote the website: The fraudulent link may appear in search results, social media advertisements, emails, SMS messages or messaging platforms.
3. Create a reason to visit: The message may offer a loan, account service, refund, reward or another attractive proposition.
4. Collect information: The website may ask for mobile numbers, PAN details, banking information, passwords, OTPs or other sensitive data.
5. Request payment or access: The fraudster may ask for an advance fee, UPI payment or access to the device.
6. Misuse the information: They may then use collected information or payments for financial fraud or other unlawful activity.

Bajaj Finance has cautioned that fraudsters may create look-alike websites, fake domains and social media profiles to impersonate the company and obtain customer information or advance payments.

How can you identify a deepfake website?

A suspicious domain, unexpected payment request or demand for confidential information can indicate that a website is fraudulent.

Check the following before entering information:

Do not treat HTTPS alone as proof that a website is genuine. A fraudulent website can also use an encrypted connection. Check the complete domain name and verify the website independently. For Bajaj Finance services, use the official website or customer service channels rather than relying on contact details displayed on an unfamiliar page.

Fraudsters increasingly build convincing fake pages specifically around loan repayment, since borrowers are often anxious to resolve an overdue amount quickly and may act before verifying the source. Common tactics include:

• Fake "pay your overdue EMI" pages: Convincing replicas of a payment portal, sent via SMS or email claiming your EMI is overdue, designed to capture your card or banking details
• Fake settlement or foreclosure offers: Pages claiming to offer a discounted "one-time settlement" or early foreclosure deal, pressuring you to pay immediately to "avoid legal action"
• Fake NOC or closure certificate requests: Sites asking you to "verify" your loan details or pay a fee to receive a No Objection Certificate after closing a loan
• Fake collection or recovery notices: Deepfake-generated letters or websites impersonating a lender's legal or recovery department, using urgency and threats to pressure quick payment

If you're ever directed to a website to resolve an overdue EMI, settle a loan, or download a closure document, verify it independently rather than acting on the link itself:

1. Do not click the link in the message. Instead, log in directly to My Account or the Bajaj Finance App using your saved bookmark or by typing the address yourself
2. Check your actual overdue or outstanding amount within your genuine account, not the figure quoted on the unfamiliar page
3. Bajaj Finance does not ask you to share an OTP or PIN to postpone an EMI, and does not require advance payment to process a loan or settlement
4. If in doubt, contact Bajaj Finance customer care directly using the number published on the official website, not a number given on the suspicious page

Genuine communication about your loan, including overdue notices, settlement discussions, or closure documents, will always be reflected in your account when you log in directly, so this remains the most reliable way to confirm whether a request is real.