Mumbai doctor lured with Mukesh Ambani deepfake, cheated of Rs 7 lakh | Mumbai News

MUMBAI: A 54-year-old Ayurveda doctor from Andheri has lost over Rs 7 lakh after falling victim to a share trading scam that lured her with an Instagram reel featuring a deepfake video of industrialist Mukesh Ambani speaking highly of a company called ‘Rajiv Sharma Trade Group’ and encouraging people to join its BCF Investment Academy for high returns.
It is the second such deepfake video of Reliance Industries boss endorsing a stock trading mentorship programme doing the rounds – in the earlier one in March, he was seen urging viewers to follow his “student Veenit” on social media for free-of-cost investment advice.
Dr K K H Patil was duped between May 28 and June 10 when she transferred a total of Rs 7.1 lakh to 16 different bank accounts after being attracted by the promise of high returns and Ambani’s “endorsement”. She realised the fraud when she tried to withdraw the Rs 30 lakh that reflected on the trading website as profit she had earned on her initial investment.
Oshiwara police on Wednesday filed an FIR against an unidentified person under IPC sections for impersonation and cheating and under the IT Act section for identity theft. Police said the scamsters had used deepfake technology to create the video. Police are in touch with nodal officers of banks to block the money that she was made to transfer, an officer said.
Patil said she came across the video on Instagram and was convinced by seemingly legitimate endorsement. She invested her money after researching online, which showed the company had offices in BKC and London.