Bengaluru: A deepfake investment video featuring Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman promising extraordinary returns lured a retired professor into a sophisticated cyber scam. The retiree was left poorer by over Rs 61 lakh after fraudsters trapped her through a bogus trading platform, Telegram chats and overseas calls.According to a complaint filed by Nanditha (name changed), a resident of Shankarapuram in south Bengaluru, her ordeal began on March 9, when she came across a video while browsing Facebook. The deepfake video, featuring Nirmala, promoted an investment opportunity claiming to generate substantial profits. Believing it to be a genuine, lucrative investment opportunity, she registered her details, which connected her to bxbmarket.com.Soon after, the complainant received a call from a person identifying himself as Abhishek, using a UK mobile number. The caller convinced her that investing through bxbmarket.com would yield lucrative returns. She was contacted via email and instructed to complete her KYC formalities.Trusting their claims, the victim transferred money in multiple installments to nine bank accounts across different banks, besides making payments through various UPI IDs.The complainant transferred a total of Rs 65 lakh during the course of the scam. The fraudsters initially credited Rs 3.9 lakh to her account as purported “profits” to gain her confidence.When she tried to withdraw the entire amount after the profits displayed over Rs 1 crore, they asked her to make payments for processing, tax, and other charges. When she questioned them about the charges and refused to make more payments, they stopped responding. The fraudsters neither released the promised returns nor refunded her investment, resulting in a net loss of Rs 61.1 lakh.Realising she had been duped, she contacted cyber helpline 1930 on June 25.———INSET:Verify before you invest-Do not blindly trust investment ads featuring celebrities on social media platforms-Verify investment platforms before investing-Be wary of guaranteed high returns. Legitimate investment advisors never promise extraordinary profits-Avoid sharing KYC documents or transferring money based solely on phone calls, social media advertisements, or Telegram/WhatsApp messages–If you suspect fraud, report to cyber helpline 1930
