India Hit by ₹2.68 Cr Crypto Fraud as Deepfake, Trading Apps Trap Victims

Summary

A Khammam businessman in Telangana lost ₹2.05 crore to a fake forex and crypto trading scheme run via WhatsApp by a scammer posing as "Jessica Meenakshi" between November 2025 and March 2026. Another Khammam resident was defrauded of ₹33.5 lakh through a stock scam involving a deepfake video of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman between May and September 2025. In Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, residents collectively lost ₹35 lakh in a crypto investment scam, with victims lured through social media and fake apps. The total losses across Telangana and Andhra Pradesh exceeded ₹2.68 crore, and all cases are under investigation by local cybercrime units. The scams followed a consistent pattern: initial trust-building with small returns, followed by demands for larger deposits and eventual blocking of withdrawals.