An AI-generated video falsely depicts Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman promoting a fraudulent investment scheme promising ₹2.5 lakh per month [1].
The fabrication highlights the growing risk of deepfake technology being used to impersonate high-ranking government officials to deceive citizens into financial scams.
The Press Information Bureau (PIB) Fact Check unit investigated the footage after it began circulating online. The agency said that the video is not authentic and was created using artificial intelligence to mislead the public [1].
According to the reports, the fraudulent advertisement suggests that an investment of ₹22,000 could potentially earn a return of ₹22 lakh per month [2]. These figures are presented to lure unsuspecting users into a scam by leveraging the perceived authority of the Finance Minister.
"This video is fake and AI-generated," PIB Fact Check said [1].
Government officials have warned that such schemes are designed to steal money and personal information from victims. The use of AI to mimic the voice and likeness of public figures allows scammers to create highly convincing but entirely false endorsements.
Authorities in India continue to monitor the spread of such content to prevent further financial losses. The public is advised to verify any government-backed financial schemes through official portals rather than social media videos.
“"This video is fake and AI-generated."”
The incident underscores a critical vulnerability in digital literacy where high-fidelity AI deepfakes can bypass traditional skepticism. By impersonating a Finance Minister, scammers target the trust citizens place in state institutions, signaling a shift toward more sophisticated social engineering attacks that require official government verification systems to combat.
