A 75-year-old man in Gorakhpur has lost approximately ₹8 lakh to fraudsters who allegedly used video calls impersonating industrialist Mukesh Ambani and a well-known actor to sell him a fake investment scheme promising ₹40 crore in returns. The case, reported from the Pipraich area under Jungle Kauria police station, is the latest in a growing pattern of Indian cyber fraud that relies on borrowed celebrity credibility rather than conventional phishing.
Lalman Sahani, the victim, told police he was contacted through video calls in which one caller introduced himself as Mukesh Ambani while another was presented as a familiar actor. Their apparent confidence and manner of speaking convinced him he was dealing with people connected to a genuine investment opportunity, according to his complaint. He was told that an investment of ₹10 lakh would yield returns of up to ₹40 crore.
A pitch dressed in familiar faces
Investigators say the fraudsters maintained regular contact through calls and video calls, repeatedly invoking the names of prominent public figures to lend the scheme legitimacy. They allegedly created urgency, pressing Sahani to act quickly rather than allowing him time to verify the claims independently, a tactic common to organised investment fraud.
Convinced of the opportunity’s authenticity, Sahani transferred close to ₹8 lakh across several transactions into different bank accounts. After each payment, the callers allegedly reassured him that his investment was progressing and that returns would follow shortly. When no money arrived and Sahani tried reaching the callers again, several numbers were found switched off, at which point he realised he had been defrauded and approached the police.
The impersonation of business and film personalities in investment scams is no longer an isolated tactic in India. Industrialists including Mukesh Ambani, Ratan Tata and Narayana Murthy, along with cricketers and film stars, have had their likenesses used without consent in AI-manipulated videos promoting dubious trading platforms, prompting at least one of them to publicly warn the public against such content. Cybercrime police in Hyderabad recently summoned Meta over its handling of AI-generated deepfake videos being used for exactly this kind of fraud.
A national pattern of borrowed credibility
Financial fraud built around impersonated celebrities has become one of the fastest-growing categories of cybercrime in India, with investment scams accounting for a substantial share of the roughly ₹22,495 crore Indians are estimated to have lost to cyber fraud in 2025. The mechanics tend to follow a consistent script: a video featuring a recognisable face builds initial trust, victims are steered into WhatsApp or Telegram groups, small early gains appear on a fabricated dashboard, and losses surface only once withdrawal requests are met with demands for further payments disguised as fees or taxes.
What distinguishes the Gorakhpur case is the direct use of video calls rather than pre-recorded deepfake clips circulated on social media, suggesting the fraudsters may have used real-time impersonation, whether through live actors mimicking mannerisms or synthetic voice and video manipulation, to sustain the illusion through an actual conversation. Police have not yet specified which method was used, and this remains part of the ongoing investigation.
The Union Government has moved to tighten oversight of such content, amending Information Technology Rules in October 2025 to require large platforms to detect and label synthetically generated media, with continued safe-harbour protection tied to good-faith takedown efforts. Enforcement, however, continues to lag the pace at which fraudulent content spreads, particularly when scams unfold through direct calls rather than public posts that platforms can be compelled to remove.
What happens next in the investigation
Police have registered an FIR and launched an investigation with the assistance of the cyber cell, examining the mobile numbers used by the fraudsters, the bank accounts that received the money, and associated UPI transactions. Investigators are attempting to trace where the ₹8 lakh moved after it reached the initial accounts and to identify who was operating them.
Determining whether the case is linked to a wider cybercrime network, rather than a standalone operation, will depend heavily on this financial trail, officers said. Elderly victims in particular remain a preferred target for such schemes, given both their accumulated savings and, in some cases, lower familiarity with digital verification tools.
Cyber experts continue to advise that no video call, however convincing the face or voice on screen, should be treated as proof of a person’s identity, and that offers of extraordinary or guaranteed returns warrant independent verification before any money changes hands. Anyone who suspects they have been targeted is urged to report the matter promptly through the 1930 cyber fraud helpline, since early reporting improves the likelihood of freezing transferred funds before they disappear into further layers of accounts.
