Narayanapura resident loses ₹6.88 lakh in Nirmala Sitharaman deepfake scam

A 66-year-old retired man residing in the Narayanapura area of Bengaluru was defrauded of ₹6.88 lakh after falling victim to an online investment scam that used a deepfake video of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The fraudulent scheme, which was circulated on Facebook, falsely promised high returns under the guise of an official government-backed financial initiative.

According to the police, the victim came across the deepfake video of the Union Finance Minister while browsing the social media platform. In the video, the impersonated minister claimed that a new investment platform had been developed by the Ministry of Finance in association with the State Bank of India (SBI). The video urged viewers not to miss out on the lucrative opportunity and promised high returns to investors.

Believing the video to be authentic, the retired man clicked on a link embedded in the Facebook post. He was redirected to a website that he was told was officially affiliated with the Union government. On this website, he was prompted to enter his personal Know Your Customer (KYC) details.

Shortly after submitting his information, the victim received a phone call via WhatsApp from a number with the +44 country code. The caller assured him that he would receive returns of ₹15 lakh within just 10 days if he started by investing an initial amount of ₹22,000.

Following these instructions, the victim made multiple financial transfers between the months of March and June, eventually totaling ₹6.88 lakh. However, after the promised returns failed to materialise and he was unable to recover his funds, the victim realised he had been scammed.

He subsequently approached the local authorities to report the fraud. The Northeast Cyber Crime Police in Bengaluru have registered a case under relevant sections and officially launched an investigation to trace the perpetrators behind the deepfake video and the fraudulent transactions.