A video circulating on social media appears to show Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman endorsing an investment platform that turns ₹22,000 into ₹70,000 a day and ₹22 lakh a month. The Press Information Bureau (PIB) has confirmed the video is an AI-generated deepfake: the government has launched no such scheme, and Sitharaman has never endorsed it.

The story in 60 seconds

  • A deepfake video shows Sitharaman appearing to promote an investment platform promising ₹70,000 a day and ₹22 lakh a month on a ₹22,000 deposit; other versions of the same scam promise different but equally extreme returns.
  • PIB's Fact Check unit confirmed the video is fake and "digitally manipulated using AI technology" — neither Sitharaman nor the Finance Ministry has endorsed any such platform.
  • The video circulated largely through paid Facebook and Instagram advertisements, a distribution method built for reach, not credibility.
  • This is not a one-off: similar AI deepfakes of Sitharaman promoting investment platforms — under names including "QuantumAI" — have circulated since at least 2025, and deepfakes of other officials (including Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal) have surfaced in 2026 too.
  • The promised returns are themselves the clearest warning sign: no lawful, regulated investment can guarantee fixed daily profits at that scale.
  • If you already clicked the link or made a payment, India's national cybercrime helpline (1930) and cybercrime.gov.in exist specifically to help freeze fraudulent transfers quickly.
AI SummaryAI-generated summary, reviewed by editors

An AI deepfake shows Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman "endorsing" a scheme promising ₹70,000 a day on a ₹22,000 investment. PIB confirmed it is fake — here is how it was made, why the returns are impossible, and how to spot the next one.

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What the video actually shows

The clip splices real public footage of Sitharaman speaking in Parliament with an AI-altered voice and mouth movements, making her appear to personally endorse an investment website. On-screen text promises an assured ₹70,000 in daily income and ₹22 lakh a month from a ₹22,000 deposit. A countdown timer marked "until the end" pressures viewers to register before a deadline, with a "personal registration link" placed directly below the video.

PIB Fact Check official graphic stamping the deepfake video frame of Nirmala Sitharaman with a red FAKE seal, captioned "The Government of India has not launched any such investment project"
Documentary THIS CLAIM IS FALSE. PIB's own graphic, stamped over the deepfake video frame itself, showing the countdown timer and "registration link" pressure tactics used in the scam. Source/credit: PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) via X

PIB's fact-check response, posted from its official @PIBFactCheck account, is direct: "This video is FAKE and has been digitally manipulated using AI technology," adding that "the Union Finance Minister ... or the Government of India has NOT endorsed or promoted any such scheme." The bureau's graphic stamps the video frame itself with a red "FAKE" seal — the same clip fraudsters are circulating, now carrying an official correction.

Comparison between the deepfake video's claim of guaranteed daily investment returns and PIB's confirmed facts that the video is fake and no such scheme exists
Diagram Every element of the pitch is designed to bypass judgment, not earn trust. Source/credit: HeadlineDecoded conceptual graphic

How a real speech becomes a fraud advertisement

Deepfake investment scams follow a production pattern that has become depressingly routine. It starts with something genuine: a public figure's real, freely available footage — a Parliament speech, a press briefing, a television interview. AI tools then alter the face and voice to fabricate words the person never said, typically an "endorsement" of a specific platform. Urgency graphics (countdown timers, "limited slots," "closing soon") are layered on top to short-circuit careful thinking. The finished video is then run as a paid advertisement on Facebook and Instagram, platforms that let fraudsters target large, specific audiences cheaply and repeatedly, even after individual ads are taken down.

Four-step diagram showing how real footage is AI-manipulated, wrapped in urgency messaging, distributed via social media ads, and used to collect money from victims
Diagram Only the first step in this pipeline uses anything genuine. Source/credit: HeadlineDecoded conceptual graphic

Why the number itself is the tell

₹70,000 a day on a ₹22,000 investment is a daily return of over 300 percent. Sustained for a month, that would multiply an investment roughly ninety-fold. No legitimate, regulated financial instrument — not equities, not mutual funds, not government bonds — offers anything close to this, and no genuine institution needs to borrow the face of a sitting Finance Minister to attract investors. Regulated returns are volatile and bounded by real markets; a guaranteed fixed daily payout at this scale is a structural feature of a Ponzi-style scheme, not an investment product.

This keeps happening, with the same names

This is not an isolated incident. Deepfake videos of Sitharaman promoting high-return investment platforms — including one branded "QuantumAI" — have circulated since at least August 2025, promising figures ranging from ₹60,000 a day to ₹5.5 lakh a week to ₹12–20 lakh a month, according to fact-checks tracked by outlets including Outlook Money, Gulf News and the OECD's AI Incidents Monitor. In 2026, separate AI deepfakes falsely attributed inflammatory or endorsement-style statements to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, the latter prompting a formal police complaint. The pattern is consistent: a real official's likeness, a fabricated financial or political claim, and rapid social-media distribution before a correction can catch up.

PIB's official guidance

PIB's fact-check post lays out three specific warnings for readers: fraudsters routinely use edited videos of public figures to lend false credibility to investment schemes; the Finance Minister and the Government of India have not endorsed any platform of this kind; and anyone encountering such a claim should verify it through official government sources before clicking any link or sharing financial or personal information.

Six red flags this scam shares with almost every investment fraud

  1. Guaranteed fixed returns. A specific daily or monthly rupee figure, promised with certainty, is not how real investments work.
  2. Manufactured urgency. Countdown timers and "closing soon" messaging exist to stop you from checking first.
  3. Borrowed authority. A minister's face, a government logo, or a celebrity's name is used to skip the trust you'd normally have to earn.
  4. Contact only through a link. No verifiable office, SEBI registration number, or working phone line — just a "personal" sign-up link.
  5. Upfront payment required. You pay first, before ever seeing a real return.
  6. Discourages checking. Framed as a rare, private opportunity that asking a regulator or another person "will make you miss."
Checklist of six investment scam red flags: guaranteed returns, urgency, borrowed authority, contact only via link, upfront payment, and discouraging verification
Diagram The technology changes; the underlying scam pattern almost never does. Source/credit: HeadlineDecoded conceptual graphic

What to do if you've engaged with one of these

  • Stop before paying, if you haven't already. No legitimate opportunity disappears because you took a day to verify it.
  • Verify any investment platform's registration directly with SEBI (the Securities and Exchange Board of India) — not through a link supplied by the platform itself.
  • If you've already paid or shared banking details, report it immediately to India's national cybercrime helpline, 1930, or through cybercrime.gov.in. Fast reporting improves the chance of freezing a fraudulent transfer before it clears.
  • Report the video or ad on the platform where you saw it, so it can be reviewed and removed for other users.

The verdict

False. The video is an AI-generated deepfake. Nirmala Sitharaman has not endorsed this or any similar investment platform, and the Government of India has launched no such scheme.

Sources

Full forms

  • PIB — Press Information Bureau
  • AI — Artificial Intelligence
  • SEBI — Securities and Exchange Board of India
Filed underfact checkdeepfakeNirmala Sitharamaninvestment scamPIB fact checkAI fraudfinancial fraudQuantumAIcybercrimeSEBI
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