A 45-year-old woman from Maikkavu in Thamarassery, in Kerala's Kozhikode district, has lost Rs 49.2 lakh in an alleged online trading scam after she believed a doctored Facebook video that appeared to show Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman endorsing an investment scheme promising huge returns, police said.

Source: PTI via Saptashwa TV

The woman came across the video while browsing Facebook and, believing the endorsement was genuine, clicked the link shared with the post and followed the instructions given by the suspected fraudsters, according to the police account reported by PTI.

Police officials told PTI that she transferred Rs 49.2 lakh between July 15 and September 22, 2026, to various bank accounts given by the accused, sending the money from her accounts with the State Bank of India and the Puthuppadi Service Cooperative Bank. The fraudsters allegedly kept convincing her to continue investing by promising huge profits, but no profits were paid and her original investment was not returned; when she asked about her money, they became unresponsive, police said.

Rs 49.2 lakhamount allegedly lost by the Thamarassery woman
July 15-Sep 22period over which the transfers were made
Nov 11case registered by Kozhikode Rural Cyber Crime Police
1930national cybercrime helpline number

Case registered; accounts being traced, freeze sought

The Kozhikode Rural Cyber Crime Police registered a case on Wednesday (November 11) after the woman filed a complaint, under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Information Technology Act. Investigators are tracing the bank accounts that received the money and seeking to freeze the suspected proceeds so the accused cannot move the funds further, The 420 reported. No arrest or recovery has been confirmed in the police account so far.

Source: The 420

The case fits a pattern authorities have repeatedly warned about. The Press Information Bureau's fact-check unit has flagged videos falsely depicting Sitharaman endorsing investment platforms as fake and AI-generated, clarifying that neither the Finance Minister nor the Government of India has endorsed any such scheme. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has also warned investors about fraudulent trading platforms that display fabricated profits and push victims to pay into unrelated bank accounts.

Police and cybercrime officials advise people not to invest through links shared with videos of ministers, officials or celebrities, to verify any platform independently through official channels, and — if money has already been sent to a suspected scam — to call the national cybercrime helpline 1930 or report it on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal without delay.