Indonesia's new president impersonated in cash handout scam

Published on November 13, 2024 at 07:25
3 min read
By AFP Indonesia

After Indonesia's new President Prabowo Subianto took office in October, a fabricated video circulated online that appeared to show him urging the public to get in touch to receive a cash handout. The clip shows signs of digital alteration and appears to be based on a video of Prabowo's inauguration speech, where he did not mention any financial aid programme.

"Please answer honestly, what do you need at this moment?" Prabowo appears to say in Indonesian in a Facebook video posted on November 1, 2024.

"School fees, college fees, repaying debts, venture capital or money for home renovation. If you need any of the above, contact me immediately. Inshallah (God willing), I will help you."

Indonesian text on the video reads: "Hopefully, this is beneficial for my beloved people" alongside numbered items for "School fees", "College fees", "Debt repayment", "Venture capital" and "Home renovation".

Screengrab of the false post taken on November 7, 2024

The post racked up more than 53,000 comments, including droves of messages from people who appeared to believe the video was genuine.

"How can I contact you, Mr President? Honestly, I need money to pay for my son's school, I want him to join the military," one person commented.

Another wrote: "Assalamualaikum (peace be upon you), Mr Prabowo I'd like to ask your help to pay my debts."

The Facebook account that posted the video replied to some comments by asking them to contact a WhatsApp number to "get the gift".

AFP has fact-checked a wave of scams in Indonesia that shared edited videos of politicians apparently promoting giveaways for cash and gifts.

Scam pages typically ask social media users to leave a comment, follow a page or share personal information in exchange for goods or services, with the aim of inflating follower numbers so the page can be sold on and renamed. The scammers may also mine people's data, such as phone numbers and email addresses.

The fabricated video of Prabowo also spread on YouTube here and here.

However, AFP found no official statement from his new administration or media reports about the cash relief handout mentioned in the video, as of November 13.

Altered video

An analysis found a string of visual clues that indicate the video was made with artificial intelligence.

Prabowo's black hat moves strangely and appears to develop grey shading on the sides during the video.

A brown stain also appears at the bottom of the hat as he speaks.

Prabowo's hat appearing black at the start of the video (left) and gradually developing grey shading and a brown stain (right)

A watermark at the bottom-right corner of the video reads "HEDRA", which is a platform to create AI videos from a text, image or voice prompt.

Meanwhile, a reverse image search on Google found the original video from which the video appears to have been edited.

Prabowo wore the same dark blue shirt and spoke in front of the same red and white background -- corresponding to the Indonesian national flag -- at his inauguration speech on October 20.

Footage of his address was posted on YouTube by the government cabinet secretary (archived link).

Below is a screengrab comparison of the fabricated video (left) and the original video showing Prabowo's inauguration speech (right):

Screengrab comparison of the fabricated video (left) and the original video showing Prabowo's inauguration speech (right)

The president did not mention any cash handouts in his speech.

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