Renowned Ugandan businessman and property magnate Dr. Sudhir Ruparelia has issued a stern public warning following the circulation of a manipulated deepfake video that falsely portrays him endorsing a dubious online financial platform.

In the doctored video—believed to be generated using Artificial Intelligence—Dr. Ruparelia appears to claim that the Government of Uganda is “hiding information” about a highly lucrative investment scheme, allegedly capable of yielding up to UGX 10 million per month from an initial investment of UGX 915,000. The video even alleges government interference, censorship, and a personal vendetta against the billionaire, citing deleted videos and ignored requests.

“This platform is completely legal, licensed and working in the country,” the AI-generated voice claims, falsely attributing these statements to the businessman. “Those who have already invested UGX 915,000 are making UGX 10 million monthly, according to verifiable statistics.”

However, investigations reveal that the video is a highly convincing forgery. It appears to repurpose footage from a legitimate interview Dr. Ruparelia gave to the Uganda Broadcasting Corporation (UBC), digitally altering both the visuals and audio to create the illusion of a genuine endorsement.

Dr. Ruparelia has distanced himself from the video, stating categorically that he has never promoted any such platform and that the circulating video is a malicious attempt to exploit his image and credibility.

“Please be careful, it is a scam,” Sudhir told the CEO East Africa Magazine in an online chat, adding: “I urge the public to exercise extreme caution. I have not endorsed any online investment platform promising unrealistic returns.”  

AI and Cybercrime in Uganda: The Rising Storm of Intelligent Threats

In Uganda’s fast-digitizing economy, cybercrime and artificial intelligence (AI) are converging to form a new class of risks—stealthy, sophisticated, and increasingly systemic. What was once a marginal issue has now become central to both national and corporate security.

The PwC Global Economic Crime and Fraud Survey 2024 (Uganda Report) underscores this shift, noting that cybercrime is now the second most experienced and disruptive form of economic crime in Uganda, with a 37% incident rate, up from just 12% in 2020. This aligns with the global trend, where cybercrime tops the chart at 44% of reported cases.

But what’s changing is not just the frequency—it’s the methodology. The report shows that fraudsters are now leveraging AI to industrialize deception. Using tools such as FraudGPT and WormGPT, threat actors are developing polymorphic malware, spoofing identities using deepfakes, and deploying adversarial machine learning to degrade cybersecurity systems. AI-powered chatbots and data reconnaissance bots are also being used to infiltrate customer-facing platforms and harvest sensitive data like biometrics and behavioural analytics.

According to the PwC Nigeria insights within the same global report, these AI-enabled threats are evolving across multiple dimensions:

• Reconnaissance and targeting of organizations using AI to map weaknesses
• Poisoning of machine learning systems via prompt injection attacks
• AI-generated synthetic content used in phishing, business email compromise, and disinformation
• State-sponsored espionage campaigns exploiting AI for surveillance and data theft 

From Boardrooms to Data Rooms: Leadership Is Worried

Insights from the PwC East Africa CEO Survey 2025 reflect how leadership is responding. 28% of East African CEOs now identify cyber risk as a top threat, up from 22% in 2023—a clear sign of growing awareness . While more than half have not yet deployed generative AI, over 73% believe it will fundamentally transform business models, even as 71% admit AI could increase cyber risks, especially when governance and risk frameworks are lacking.

The Nigerian Parallel: Echoes Across Borders

From Nigeria to Uganda, the same trends are playing out. According to PwC Nigeria, spoofing scams and invoice fraud are proliferating in sectors with underdeveloped finance functions. AI is enabling deepfake impersonations, not just in emails and calls but in video and voice too—posing a severe risk to institutions with limited digital maturity.

They also flag an alarming rise in:

• AI-driven phishing and vishing
• Business email compromise using synthetic identities
• AI-powered malware that morphs to evade detection
• System integration loopholes being exploited in real-time

These insights are particularly relevant for Uganda’s growing financial sector, which remains a top target for cyber-enabled fraud.

A Culture and Capacity Deficit

The PwC Uganda report also highlights a worrying gap in cyber awareness and preparedness, with many organizations and individuals still lacking sufficient understanding of cybersecurity risks. The 2022 NITA-U surveys showed that digital adoption had outpaced cybersecurity culture, creating vulnerabilities across both private and public sectors.

Further, only 64% of organizations had conducted an enterprise-wide fraud risk assessment in the last 12 months, and just 29% used data analytics to detect fraud patterns—indicating room for vast improvement.

An Intelligent Threat Needs an Intelligent Response

The convergence of cybercrime and AI is not a hypothetical risk for Uganda—it’s already here. From banking to telecom, and from NGOs to public entities, institutions must now act with urgency.

What’s needed is not just better technology, but smarter governance, upskilled talent, and stronger cross-border collaboration. AI offers immense potential—but if left unchecked, it also offers the perfect storm for cybercriminals.

Uganda’s future cyber resilience will depend on how well we secure our digital ambition before it becomes our digital undoing.