#FactCheck - "Deep fake Falsely Claimed as a photo of Arvind Kejriwal welcoming Elon Musk when he visited India to discuss Delhi’s administrative policies.”

Introduction

In an era where digital connectivity drives employment, investment, and communication, the most potent weapon of cybercriminals is ‘gaining trust’ with their sophisticated tactics. Prayagraj has been a recent battleground in India's cybercrime landscape. Within a one-year crackdown, over 10,400 SIM cards, 612 mobile device IMEIs, and 59 bank accounts were blocked, exposing a sprawling international fraud network. These activities primarily targeted unsuspecting individuals through Telegram job postings, fake investment tips, and mobile app scams, highlighting the darker side of convenience in cyberspace. With India now experiencing a wave of scams enabled by technology, this crackdown establishes a precedent for concerted cyber policing and awareness among citizens. 

Digital Deceit: How the Scams Operated

SIM cards that have been issued through fake or stolen identities are increasingly being used by cybercriminals in Prayagraj and elsewhere. These SIMs were the initial weapon in a highly organised fraud system, allowing criminals to conduct themselves anonymously while abusing messaging services like WhatsApp and Telegram. The gangs involved in these scams, some of which have been linked by reports to nations like Nepal, Pakistan, China, Dubai, and Myanmar, enticed their victims with rich-yielding stock market advice, remote employment offers, and weekend employment promises. After getting a target engaged, victims were slowly manipulated into sending money in the name of application fees, verification fees, or investment contributions.

API Abuse and OTP Interception

What's more alarming about these scams is their tech-savviness. From Prayagraj's cybercrime squad, several syndicates are reported to have employed API-based mobile applications to intercept OTPs (One-Time Passwords) sent to Indian numbers. Such apps, cleverly disguised as genuine services or work-from-home software, collected personal details like bank account credentials and payment card data, allowing wrongdoers to carry out unauthorised transactions in a matter of minutes. The pilfered funds were then quickly transferred through several mule accounts, rendering the money trail almost untraceable.

The Human Impact: How Citizens Were Trapped

Victims tended to come from job-hunting groups, students, or housewives seeking to earn additional income. Often, the scammers persuaded users to join Telegram channels providing free investment advice or job-referral-based schemes, creating an illusion of authenticity. Once on board, victims were sometimes even paid small commissions initially, creating a false sense of success. This tactic, known as “advance-fee confidence building,” made victims more likely to invest larger sums later, ultimately leading to complete financial loss.

Digital Arrest Threats and Bitcoin Ransom Scams

Aside from investment and job scam complaints, the cybercrime cell also saw several "digital arrest" scams, where victims were forced to send money under the threat of engaging in criminal activities. Bitcoin extortion schemes were also used in some cases, with perpetrators threatening exposure of victims' personal information or browsing history on the internet unless they were paid in cryptocurrency.

Law Enforcement’s Cyber Shield: Local Action, Global Impact

Identifying the extent of the threat, Prayagraj authorities implemented strategic measures to enable local policing. Cyber Units have been formed in each of the 43 police stations in the district, each made up of a sub-inspector, head constable, constable, lady constable, and computer operator. This decentralised model enables response in real-time, improved victim support, and quicker forensic analysis of hacked devices. The nodal officer for cyber operations said that this multi-level action is not punitive but preventive, meant to break syndicates before more harm is caused.

CyberPeace Recommendations: Prevention is Power

As cybercrime gets advanced, citizens will also have to keep pace with it. Prayagraj's experience highlights the importance of public awareness, digital literacy, and instant response processes. To assist in preventing people from falling victim to such scams, CyberPeace advises the following:

• Don't click on dubious APK links sent on WhatsApp or Telegram.
• Do not share OTPs or confidential details, even if the source appears to be familiar.
• Never download unfamiliar apps that demand access to SMS or financial information.
• Block your SIM card, payment cards, and bank accounts at once if your phone is stolen.
• Report all cyber frauds to cybercrime.gov.in or your local Cyber Cell.
• Never join investment or job groups on social sites without verification.
• Refuse video calls from unknown numbers; some scammers use this method of recording or blackmailing victims.

Conclusion

Prayagraj crackdown uncovers both the magnitude and versatility of cybercrime in the present. From trans-border cartels to Telegram job scams, the cyber front is as intricate as ever. But this incident also illustrates what can be achieved when technology, law enforcement, and public awareness come together. To stay safe from cyber threats, a cyber-conscious citizenry is as important as an effective cyber cell for India. At CyberPeace, we know that defending cyberspace begins with cyber resilience, and the story of Prayagraj should encourage communities everywhere to take active digital precautions. 

References

• https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/lucknow-news/over-10k-sims-blocked-as-job-investment-frauds-rise-in-prayagraj-101753715061234.html
• https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-recognize-and-avoid-phishing-scams
• https://faq.whatsapp.com/2286952358121083
• https://education.vikaspedia.in/viewcontent/education/digital-litercy/information-security/preventing-online-scams-cert-in-advisory?lgn=en
• https://cybercrime.gov.in/Accept.aspx
• https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/perils-advance-fee-fraud-protecting-yourself-from-scammers-sharma/

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Introduction
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The rapid adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) tools and applications in companies has been largely presented as a groundbreaking development for enterprises. The potential for increased productivity and efficiently scaled companies eliminates repetitive tasks and builds a narrative that practically writes itself for executives. What has largely been ignored, however, is its effect on its users- the employees.  Evidence from across the United States, United Kingdom, and continental Europe indicates an increase in psychological disengagement from work, along with an increase in the number of people who are actively sabotaging the very systems that companies have invested millions of dollars to implement, as a direct result of being forced to work with AI. 

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The Backdrop: Quiet Quitting
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Quiet quitting is a form of employee disengagement  wherein workers meet only the basic expectations of their job without. Gallup puts global employee engagement at just 21%. State of the Global Workplace 2026 report which analysed employee well-being across 160 countries reports that in India,  employee and manager engagement has declined. Around 62% of workers describe themselves as not engaged, and another 17% are actively disengaged — not just drifting, but potentially pulling in the opposite direction. What does this mean for productivity? Gallup estimates this costs the global economy roughly $8.9 trillion in lost productivity each year, around 9% of world GDP. This is the workplace AI has entered into. 

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How AI Is Changing the Nature of Work

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The promise was simpler work but employees report that the reality is often more of it. AI raises output expectations without necessarily reducing effort. Workers now lose the equivalent of 51 working days per year to technology friction, nearly two full months up 42% from 2025. Poorly integrated systems force employees to spend hours troubleshooting or correcting AI-generated outputs, adding cognitive load rather than removing it. Focus efficiency dropped to a three-year low of 60%, as collaboration time surged 34% and multitasking climbed 12%. AI is not eliminating work. It is transforming it into something more demanding and more fragmented. The psychological dimension is equally documented. TalentLMS research found that 54% of employees report persistent workplace unhappiness, with one in five experiencing it frequently or constantly. 29% report unmanageable workloads during this transition, and 15% do not clearly understand their role expectations in an AI-transformed workplace. When workers cannot see where they fit, withdrawal is a rational response.

Then there is the fear. IBM announced it would not replace roughly 7,800 back-office positions that could be handled by AI, framing it as natural attrition. Klarna said its AI assistant was doing the work of 700 full-time customer service agents. Dropbox laid off 16% of its workforce, with its CEO explicitly citing the need to “make room for AI.” AI was the leading cause of job cuts in March 2026  the first time that has happened since tracking began. 

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The Causal Link: AI Anxiety to Quiet Quitting
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A peer-reviewed study published in March 2025 establishes the causal mechanism between forced AI adoption and employee disengagement. Conducted across 457 employees in Turkish SMEs, it found that AI anxiety does not directly compel people to resign. Instead, it triggers quiet quitting a form of progressive disengagement that functions as a precursor to departure. Drawing on Withdrawal Progression Theory, the study frames quiet quitting as a preliminary stage of turnover intention, where withdrawal progresses from mild detachment toward eventual exit. The integrated causal chain runs as follows: forced AI adoption creates work intensification and job anxiety, which produce burnout and loss of autonomy, which trigger psychological withdrawal, which precedes turnover. DHR Global’s Workforce Trends Report for 2026 found that overall employee engagement dropped from 88% to 64% in a single year. Crucially, 69% of C-suite leaders say their company has communicated clearly about AI’s impact on jobs but only 12% of entry-level staff agree. When the people most exposed to displacement are also the least informed about what is happening to their roles, disengagement is not a mystery. It is a response to a vacuum of information.

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From Disengagement to Active Withdrawal
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Quiet quitting is then a natural response. But what has emerged alongside it is something more active, and it is where the disengagement crisis tips into something organisations are unprepared for. The Writer and Workplace Intelligence survey of 2,400 knowledge workers found that 29% of employees admit to willfully withdrawing from their company’s AI strategy. Among Gen Z workers, that figure jumps to 44%. Active withdrawal takes several forms: entering proprietary data into public AI chatbots, using unapproved tools, outright refusing to engage with mandated platforms, and in some cases deliberately generating low-quality outputs to make the technology look ineffective. For Gen Z, the resistance has a structural logic. Junior roles in finance, law, and tech the traditional “learning by doing” rungs of the career ladder have declined by 32% since 2022. For a 22-year-old, AI is not a tool; it is a competitor that has already taken their first job. Workers who resist AI out of fear for their jobs are making themselves more vulnerable to the outcome they dread. 77% of executives say employees who refuse to become proficient in AI will not be considered for promotions or leadership roles, and 60% are considering cutting those who refuse to adopt it entirely.

Meanwhile, 75% of executives admit their company’s AI strategy is “more for show” than a meaningful guide to outcomes. Only 29% report significant ROI from generative AI, despite 97% claiming to have already deployed agents across their organisation. 39% of business leaders admit they made employees redundant as a result of deploying AI of whom 55% concede they made the wrong decisions about those redundancies. Organisations are moving fast, getting it wrong, and the cost is being absorbed by the workforce.

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Conclusion
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AI is not directly causing quiet quitting. However, AI is changing how we view working relationships; it will continue to result in predictable outcomes of poor execution of AI (i.e. passive to active disengagement) and radically change the way that we work, primarily by creating an increase in job demands, reducing autonomy, and  raising worker anxiety without providing any transparency about future AI technology use.  If AI continues to create a challenging work environment, it may lead to increased psychological detachment from work and ultimately result in productivity losses, possibly canceling out the very gains expected from AI integration. This globally rising disengagement from AI tools begets the question: is technology being deployed responsibly? 

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References 
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1. https://www.gallup.com/workplace/349484/state-of-the-global-workplace.aspx 
2. https://www.walkme.com/news-releases/enterprises-lose-51-workdays-per-employee-to-technology-friction-annually-despite-record-ai-investment-walkme-global-study-of-3750-finds/.  
3. https://www.activtrak.com/resources/state-of-the-workplace/ 
4. https://peoplemanagingpeople.com/employee-retention/quiet-cracking/ 
5. https://www.webpronews.com/the-quiet-revolt-gen-z-workers-are-deliberately-undermining-ai-deployments-from-the-inside/ 
6. https://www.uctoday.com/productivity-automation/44-of-gen-z-workers-are-sabotaging-your-enterprise-ai-rollout-the-problem-isnt-gen-z/ 
7. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11939379/ 
8. https://huntscanlon.com/workforce-trends-2026-leaders-confront-burnout-disengagement-and-ai-driven-change/ 
9. https://fortune.com/2026/04/08/gen-z-workers-sabotage-ai-rollout-backlash/  
10. https://peoplemanagingpeople.com/employee-retention/quiet-cracking/
11. https://www.hrgrapevine.com/us/content/article/2026-04-09-ai-adoption-is-tearing-companies-apart-says-new-report 
12. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/new-updates/india-leads-in-workplace-disengagement-as-quiet-quitting-trend-rises-why-are-indians-mentally-checking-out-at-jobs/articleshow/130104773.cms?from=mdr 

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Executive Summary

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A video is being widely shared on social media showing two men seated on chairs when police personnel arrive and begin assaulting them. A flag of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s party, the Trinamool Congress (TMC), can also be seen in the footage. The video is being circulated with the claim that during the first phase of polling held on April 23, 2026, two TMC workers were issuing voter slips near a polling booth when security forces reached the spot and beat them. However, research  by the CyberPeace Research Wing found the claim to be false. The footage is not recent and has no connection to the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections.

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Claim:
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Social media users alleged that police assaulted TMC workers during the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections. An X user, Abhimanyu Singh, shared the clip claiming that two “peaceful” TMC workers were sitting near polling stations issuing voter slips when a policeman slapped and beat them with a baton, forcing them to flee.

• https://x.com/Abhimanyu1305/status/2047317736825790549
• https://archive.ph/0ceXH

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Fact Check:
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To verify the claim, keyframes from the viral video were subjected to a reverse image search. This led to the same video being found on a Facebook page named Canning News, where it had been uploaded in 2023. The caption stated: “Take a look at the situation in Basanti, Canning, on election day.”

• https://www.facebook.com/reel/786333173205428

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Further searches found the clip published by News18 Bangla on July 6, 2023. The report described unrest during the 2023 Panchayat elections, stating that allegations of bomb throwing had surfaced in Basanti the previous night. On the morning of polling, a bomb was reportedly recovered from the roadside, creating panic in the area.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZlwVKt65eg&t=2s

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According to the report, police intervened to control the situation and took action wherever crowds had gathered. The footage showed police dispersing people with batons and, at times, physically confronting individuals.

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Conclusion:

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The viral claim is misleading. The video is from the 2023 Panchayat elections in West Bengal and is being falsely linked to the recent 2026 Assembly elections.

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