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Indonesia’s Religious Affairs Minister Falsely Depicted in AI-Generated Grant Scam
A sophisticated online scam featuring manipulated videos of Indonesian Minister of Religious Affairs Nasaruddin Umar has been circulating on social media platforms since early March, falsely promoting a non-existent grant program supposedly funded by Middle Eastern countries.
The fraudulent content, which first appeared on Facebook on March 8, shows what appears to be Minister Umar announcing the “Al Bayti grant program,” allegedly a special fund from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. In the manipulated video, the minister claims grants ranging from 250 million to 1 billion rupiah (approximately $16,000 to $64,000) are available to Indonesian citizens.
“Grants are officially open, ranging from 250 million to 1 billion. Register now,” states the fraudulent message, which directs viewers to contact the uploader via Messenger for further details—a classic hallmark of online scams seeking to establish direct contact with potential victims.
Thobib Al-Asyhar, Head of Public Relations and Communications at Indonesia’s Ministry of Religious Affairs, categorically denied the authenticity of the videos when contacted by Tempo on March 26. “It’s a hoax, clearly created using AI,” Al-Asyhar stated, confirming that no such grant program exists and that the Saudi Arabian Baitul Mal fund mentioned in the videos is entirely fabricated.
Extensive digital forensic analysis conducted by Tempo reveals compelling evidence of artificial intelligence manipulation. Using multiple detection tools, investigators found that one video registered a 99.99 percent deepfake probability score using Google’s Veo 3 model detection system. Voice authentication testing was equally conclusive, with the Hiya Deepfake Voice Detector identifying the audio as authentic in only eight out of 100 tests.
The investigation traced the original source material used to create these deepfakes. The first video appropriated footage from a November 2024 iNews broadcast showing Minister Umar before his departure for Saudi Arabia. Another manipulated clip repurposed a photograph taken by Kompas photographer Totok Wijayanto that originally accompanied a 2013 news article about alleged tender manipulation.
Perhaps most telling, a third fraudulent video contained a watermark identical to Google’s Gemini AI chatbot in the bottom right corner—an explicit indicator of artificial generation. Original footage of Minister Umar was identified from an October 2024 ministerial handover ceremony.
This case represents a growing trend of increasingly sophisticated scams leveraging artificial intelligence to impersonate government officials. The perpetrators appear to be exploiting the substantial cultural and economic ties between Indonesia and wealthy Gulf nations like Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which have legitimate investment and charitable programs in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation.
The Indonesian Ministry of Religious Affairs has urged the public to remain vigilant against similar fraudulent offers, particularly those requiring personal information or payment to access purported benefits. Official government programs are typically announced through verified channels and never require upfront payments or messenger communication with unverified social media accounts.
Law enforcement agencies have not yet commented on whether they are investigating the source of these deepfakes, though Indonesia has laws against online fraud and the misrepresentation of government officials.
The incident highlights the escalating challenge of detecting digital manipulation as AI technology becomes more accessible and convincing, presenting serious implications for public trust and information security.
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14 Comments
Wow, that’s a really sophisticated scam using a manipulated video. It’s good the ministry was able to address this quickly and warn the public. People need to be very wary of any unsolicited financial offers online, as they are almost always intended to steal personal information or funds.
Scams like this that try to impersonate government officials are really concerning. I’m glad the ministry was able to shut this down before it could gain more traction. Indonesians should be very wary of unsolicited financial offers, especially if they seem too good to be true.
Impersonating government officials to run financial scams is a really low tactic. It’s good the ministry was able to quickly debunk this fraudulent grant announcement. Indonesians need to be very wary of any unsolicited offers of free money online, as they are almost always intended to steal personal information or funds.
This is a really concerning scam that could potentially trick a lot of Indonesians. It’s good the ministry was able to publicly deny the authenticity of the video and grant announcement. People need to be extremely cautious about any claims of free money online, as they are almost always intended to steal personal information or funds.
Manipulated videos can be so convincing these days. It’s smart of the ministry to quickly issue a statement denying the authenticity of this grant announcement. Hopefully this will prevent any Indonesians from falling victim to this scam.
Wow, that’s a really concerning scam targeting Indonesians. It’s good the ministry was able to quickly debunk this fraudulent video and grant announcement. People need to be very careful about unsolicited offers of free money online – they’re usually too good to be true.
It’s unfortunate that scammers are trying to capitalize on the minister’s name and reputation to trick people. I’m glad the ministry was able to swiftly address this and warn the public. It’s a good reminder to always verify claims, especially around financial offers from unfamiliar sources.
Impersonating government officials to run financial scams is a really low tactic. I’m glad the ministry was able to swiftly refute this fraudulent grant announcement. Indonesians should be very wary of unsolicited offers of large sums of money, as they are almost always intended to steal personal information or funds.
This is a really sophisticated scam, using a manipulated video of the minister to make the grant offer seem legitimate. It’s good the ministry moved quickly to debunk it and warn the public. People need to be very cautious about claims of free money online – if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
Scams impersonating government officials are always concerning. It’s good the ministry was able to swiftly address this fraudulent grant announcement and caution the public. People need to be extremely careful about any claims of free money online, as they are almost always intended to steal personal information or funds.
This is a really concerning scam that could potentially trick a lot of Indonesians. I’m glad the ministry was able to swiftly refute the authenticity of the video and grant announcement. Indonesians should be extremely cautious about any unsolicited claims of free money, as they are almost always intended to steal personal information or funds.
Wow, that’s a really sophisticated scam using a manipulated video of the minister. I’m glad the ministry was able to quickly debunk it and warn the public. Indonesians should be very wary of any unsolicited financial offers, especially ones that seem too good to be true.
This is a really concerning scam that could potentially trick a lot of Indonesians. Manipulated videos can be so convincing these days. I’m glad the ministry was able to quickly refute the authenticity of this grant announcement and warn the public.
It’s really unfortunate that scammers are trying to exploit the minister’s name and reputation for this fraudulent grant scheme. I’m glad the ministry was able to shut it down quickly and inform the public. Indonesians should be extremely cautious about any unsolicited financial offers, especially if they seem too good to be true.