Bengaluru Police have registered a case after a deepfake video falsely showing Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman promoting a financial investment scheme surfaced online, weeks after she publicly spoke about such manipulated videos featuring her.
The complaint, filed by a Sub-Inspector at the Malleshwaram Police Station on November 24, states that an edited digital video circulating on Facebook falsely depicts the Finance Minister endorsing a lucrative investment plan.
According to police, the misleading clip is being shared through social media pages to lure people into believing and investing in a fraudulent scheme.
Officials said the video could cause significant financial losses to unsuspecting individuals who may trust the fabricated claims. The cybercrime unit is now working to trace the source of the video and take action under sections related to misinformation, impersonation and online fraud. Investigators are also checking whether more such videos are in circulation and who is behind their creation.
The case comes after Sitharaman, while addressing the 6th edition of the Global FinTech Fest 2025 in Mumbai on October 7, spoke about the rising threat of deepfakes.
"The same tools that power innovation can be weaponised for deception and for fraud. I am not personalising it, but I can say that I have seen several deepfake videos of myself being circulated online, manipulated to mislead citizens, (and) distort facts," she had said.
She stressed the "urgency" of strengthening defences against such actors. "The new generation fraud is no longer about breaching firewalls, it's about hacking trust. Criminals are using AI to mimic voices, clone identities and create life-like videos that can manipulate people," she had said, urging innovators, investors and regulators to address the "darker side" of technological progress.
The entire ecosystem, including fintech innovators, investors and also regulators have an important role to play on this front, she said, conceding that AI is transforming finance, governance and also everyday life.
(With inputs from PTI)
