Mumbai Physician Deceived With Deepfake of Mukesh Ambani; Defrauded of Rs 7 lakh

A 54-year-old Andheri-based Ayurvedic physician who lost more than Rs 7 lakh to a share trading scam that enticed her with an Instagram reel that included a deepfake video of businessman Mukesh Ambani praising the 'Rajiv Sharma Trade Group' and urging viewers to enroll in its BCF Investment Academy for huge returns.

The head of Reliance Industries is shown in the second deepfake video supporting a stock trading mentoring program that has gone viral. In the first, from March, he was seen advising viewers to follow his "student Veenit" on social media in order to receive free financial guidance.

Between May 28 and June 10, Dr. K. K. H. Patil fell victim to fraud when she moved a total of Rs. 7.1 lakh to 16 distinct bank accounts. Her attraction came from the promise of large profits and Ambani's "endorsement". When she attempted to withdraw the Rs 30 lakh that appeared on the trading website as profit from her first deposit, she discovered the deceit.

On Wednesday, the Oshiwara police department filed a formal complaint (FIR) against an unidentified individual for identity theft and impersonation under the IT Act and IPC provisions. According to the police, the video was produced by scammers using deepfake technology. According to an official, police are in contact with bank nodal authorities to freeze the money that she was forced to send.

Patil claimed that after seeing the video on Instagram, she was convinced by the endorsement's seeming legitimacy. After doing internet research, she decided to invest her money and discovered that the company has offices in London and BKC.

(Input from various sources)

(Rehash/Priyanka Pandey/MSM)