A 71-year-old woman from Hyderabad recently became a victim of a growing wave of online investment scams. The retired doctor was lured in by a deepfake video that showed Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman promoting a trading opportunity and ended up losing over Rs 20 lakh to the scammers.
The fraud began in late March when she came across an ad online. The video, polished and seemingly authentic, featured Sitharaman endorsing what was pitched as a credible investment avenue. It linked to a trading site, and the rest played out with the kind of familiar urgency that defines so many financial scams today.
After clicking through, she received a WhatsApp message from a number with a UK code. The sender, posing as a representative of "Fin Bridge Capital," asked her to share personal documents, including Aadhaar, PAN, bank details, for registration. Soon after, another person posing as a financial advisor stepped in and suggested she begin with a Rs 20,000 deposit.
The victim received screenshots from the fraudsters showing ‘dollar-based profits’. Much like how it happens with the majority of online investment scams today, the investment platform displayed rising figures in order to nudge the victim to invest more. Over the course of the week, the retired doctor kept investing/transfering money until the total investment crossed Rs 20 lakh.
At one point, she was told her account had earned nearly $80,000, supposedly parked in a wallet under a name that sounded technical enough, ‘Bitcoin Block.’ When she tried to withdraw her profits, they asked for additional fees. That was when it clicked: the money was gone.
The case has been reported to Hyderabad Police’s cybercrime wing, which is now investigating.
Not an isolated story
Such cases are not happening in isolation now, they are a part of a broader trend that’s been building momentum over the last year, frauds that use social media, fake trading platforms, and increasingly, AI-generated endorsements to appear trustworthy.
It is no longer just obscure spam emails or sketchy websites. Fraudsters are now creating entire ecosystems that look legitimate: platforms, support teams, dashboards, even branded video testimonials.
Last year, Outlook Money covered several such traps in a special issue on various kinds of frauds, including online investment scams. The themes have remained eerily consistent. Many victims fall for schemes that claim to double money quickly, guarantee high returns, or urge immediate investment “before the offer closes.” In most of these, the hooks are emotional and psychological driven by the ‘fear of missing out’, the need for a passive income stream, or the illusion of insider access.
The doctor in Hyderabad was not reckless. She started small, watched her (fake) returns grow, and only then increased her stake. That is what makes these scams especially dangerous: they mimic the logic of good investing: start small, build confidence, increase exposure.
How To Protect Yourself From Such Frauds?
There are some common, yet easy to overlook things, you probably already know which will save you from falling for such scams:
To begin with, If It Sounds Too Good To Be True, It Probably Is. As an investor it is okay to be sceptical of schemes that promise guaranteed or unusually high returns in short periods. Scams often exploit urgency and greed.
Don’t fall for ‘celebrity’ endorsements blindly. The easiest trick under scammers’ hat is luring you in with a trusted face. The retired doctor, for instance, felt a sense of surety after watching FM Sitharaman’s video. Always cross-verify through official channels.
Do not share sensitive documents without proper verifications. Your Aadhaar, PAN, and banking details should only be shared with verified and regulated financial institutions.
Lastly, check for regulatory licenses before investing via any online platform. Most legitimate platforms are registered with the Security Exchange Board of India or RBI. If that information is missing, that is a major red flag.
It is important now, more than ever, to pause before acting on anything that seems too perfectly packaged. Real investment avenues rarely need personal documents upfront over WhatsApp. They don't promise dollar returns overnight. And they certainly don’t need you to keep paying more to access your own profits.
