Bengaluru retired professor loses over ₹61L to Nirmala Sitharaman deepfake
A retired Bengaluru professor lost over ₹61 lakh after falling for a scam that used a deepfake video of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
It all started when she clicked on a Facebook ad for an investment site called bxbmarket.com, which promised big returns.
After signing up, she was contacted by someone claiming to be "Abhishek" from the UK who walked her through fake KYC steps and convinced her to invest.
Fake ₹1cr returns prompted ₹65L transfers
To make things look legit, the scammers sent her ₹3.9 lakh as "profits" and faked huge returns on the platform, over ₹1 crore.
Encouraged by these fake numbers, she ended up transferring ₹65 lakh across multiple accounts and UPI IDs.
When she tried to cash out, they demanded extra payments for taxes and fees before cutting contact completely.
Professor reported scam, experts warn deepfakes
The professor reported the fraud to the national cybercrime helpline in June.
Authorities and cybersecurity experts have reminded everyone to double-check online investment platforms and watch out for deepfake scams that are getting smarter every day.