A 54-year-old Ayurveda doctor from Andheri fell victim to a share trading scam, losing over Rs 7 lakh. The scam enticed her through an Instagram reel featuring a deepfake video of industrialist Mukesh Ambani, praising a company called ‘Rajiv Sharma Trade Group’ and endorsing its BCF Investment Academy for lucrative returns.
This incident marks the second occurrence of a deepfake video featuring Mukesh Ambani endorsing a stock trading mentorship program. In an earlier incident in March, a similar video surfaced where Ambani recommended following his “student Veenit” on social media for free investment advice.
The victim, Dr. K K H Patil, was duped between May 28 and June 10, during which she transferred a total of Rs 7.1 lakh to 16 different bank accounts. She became suspicious when she attempted to withdraw the Rs 30 lakh shown as profit on the trading website, revealing the fraud.
On Wednesday, the Oshiwara police filed an FIR against an unidentified individual under IPC sections for impersonation and cheating, and under the IT Act section for identity theft. Authorities believe that the scammers utilized deepfake technology to create the deceptive video. The police are coordinating with bank nodal officers to block the transferred funds.
Patil explained that she encountered the video on Instagram and was persuaded by what appeared to be a legitimate endorsement. After conducting online research that indicated the company had offices in BKC and London, she decided to invest her money.