New Delhi, Oct. 20 -- The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) has warned of rising fraud involving deepfake and manipulated advertisements on Facebook and Instagram that misuse the names and faces of prominent political leaders to promote fake government welfare schemes and cashback offers. In an advisory issued on October 19, the home ministry body said the advertisements were being used to dupe people into making payments for benefits that do not exist. The advisory, issued by I4C's National Cybercrime Threat Analytics Unit (NCTAU), said most of the advertisements appeared on Meta platforms, with many falling under the category of political advertisements. "Victims are asked to pay purported fees or taxes to receive the benefits. In some cases, advertisements offer fake cashback rewards through scratch-card or spin-and-win contests, tricking victims into approving UPI collect requests from fraud merchants and transferring money to fraudsters," it said The leaders whose identities are being misused include Prime Minister Narendra Modi, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu, Tamil Nadu chief minister C Joseph Vijay, and Karnataka chief minister DK Shivakumar. The advisory also warned of calls from Pakistani numbers. It said many victims get calls from foreign numbers startingwith +92, telling them they have been randomly chosen to get money. "If any Public figures or their offices contact you from +92 (Pakistan) numbers, treat such calls with extreme caution and refrain from engaging," said the advisory....