'A video on Facebook, a chat on Telegram': Deepfake…

A retired professor from Bengaluru lost approximately Rs 61.1 lakh after being targeted by a sophisticated investment scam involving a deepfake video of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The incident underscores the rising danger of AI-powered impersonation tactics used to validate fraudulent financial platforms.

What happened

On March 9, 2024, the victim encountered a Facebook advertisement featuring a deepfake video of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman endorsing an investment platform called bxbmarket.com. After registering on the site, she was contacted by an individual claiming to be named "Abhishek" via a UK-based phone number. The fraudsters utilized a combination of Telegram chats, emails, and phone calls to guide the victim through the process.

To build trust, the scammers requested KYC documentation and initially credited Rs 3.9 lakh to the victim’s account, framing it as early investment profit. The platform’s interface was manipulated to show returns exceeding Rs 1 crore, which encouraged the victim to transfer a total of Rs 65 lakh across nine different bank accounts and various UPI IDs. When the victim attempted to withdraw her funds, the scammers demanded additional payments for taxes and processing fees. Upon her refusal to pay, the fraudsters severed all communication. The victim eventually reported the incident to the national cybercrime helpline on June 25, 2024, after realizing the promised returns were non-existent and her initial capital was unrecoverable.