Mumbai-based doctor falls prey to deepfake video of Mukesh Ambani, loses Rs 7 lakh in stock market scam

A Mumbai-based doctor has been swindled out of Rs 7 lakh by fraudsters who used a deepfake video of industrialist Mukesh Ambani to endorse a bogus share trading academy. The victim, Dr K H Patil, a 54-year-old Ayurveda practitioner residing in Andheri, fell prey to the scam after seeing the video on Instagram in April. 

Dr Patil initially came across the deepfake video on April 15 on her Instagram feed. The video featuring Ambani promoting the success of a trading academy named Rajiv Sharma Trade Group and urged people to join BCF Academy for high returns on investments. 

She searched for the group online and found that they purportedly had offices in London and at the Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai, which convinced her of their legitimacy. 

In her FIR, Dr Patil said that she contacted the academy online and proceeded to invest a total of Rs 7.1 lakh between May and June. She was provided with an account where she could monitor her investments, which jumped to over Rs 30 lakh in profits.  

However, when she attempted to withdraw the amount this month, she was unable to do. Realising that she was duped, she then lodged a complaint with the police. 

Police has registered a case under sections 419 and 420 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and section 66(D) of the IT Act and are currently investigating 16 bank accounts to which Dr Patil transferred money, ANI reported.