Deepfake Abuse Rises 900% in India with Majority Targeting Women

By: WE Staff | Monday, 16 March 2026

• A study by pi-labs forecasts an increase in digital deception in India
• More than 90% of the explicit deepfakes detected online were of women
• Government statistics indicate a substantial rise in the number of complaints related to cybercrime against women

pi-labs, a tech firm, released a report in 2026 that highlighted the growing prevalence of digital deception, with significant increases in the usage of both deepfakes (900 percent in the past few years) and identity misuse.

This report also details a major gender disparity, as 90 percent of all adult deepfake content is directed towards women, and quotes statistics demonstrating a dramatic increase in the number of complaints filed by women related to cybercrime (50,000 in 2024; 80,000 in 2026, a 60 percent increase over 2 years).

Other findings from the report show that there are thousands of publicly accessible face-swapping applications and voice synthesizers being used for malevolent purposes, as well as an alarming percentage (65 percent) of Indian organizations experiencing deepfake attacks in 2026.

To protect against these threats, the report recommends avoiding distributing high-quality images and audio on social networks and implementing strict controls to preserve the integrity of social media privacy settings to deter the misuse of data.