Bengaluru Woman Loses Rs 3.75 Crore After Falling For AI Video Of Sadhguru Endorsing Trading Platform

A 57-year-old retired woman was allegedly duped of over Rs 3.75 crore after being lured by an artificial intelligence-generated YouTube video that showed spiritual leader Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev endorsing a trading platform.

According to the FIR, complainant Varsha Gupta was watching YouTube videos on Feb. 25 when she came across an AI video of Sadhguru, who appeared to claim that investing through a trading link with just $250 would bring huge financial gains. Believing the video to be genuine, the resident of C V Raman Nagar clicked on the link provided in the description.

Soon after, she was contacted by a man identifying himself as Waleed B, who posed as a representative of the Mirrox App. He used multiple foreign phone numbers and email addresses, and instructed her to download the Mirrox application, as per her allegations. Waleed allegedly conducted trading lessons through Zoom, while another person, Michael C, guided her whenever Waleed was unavailable.

Between February and April, the complainant transferred a total of Rs 3.75 crore from her bank accounts and credit cards into accounts provided by the fraudsters. However, when she tried to withdraw her profits, she realised she was duped and approached the police with a complaint nearly five months after the incident.

The number of online scams and online frauds has been on a rise. Last month, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India flagged a rising wave of cyber frauds and financial scams exploiting its name to dupe citizens.

The regulator warned that fraudsters are impersonating TRAI officials through phone calls, messages, forged letters and fake legal notices to mislead individuals into sharing personal data or transferring money.

A particularly alarming trend flagged by TRAI is the so-called "digital arrest" scam, where callers pretend to be TRAI or law enforcement officers and falsely accuse people of criminal or telecom violations. Victims are bullied with threats of arrest or account freezing and pressured into paying "fines" or "verification fees" using fake legal documents.