#FactCheck: Fake video falsely claims FM Sitharaman endorsed investment scheme
Executive Summary:
A video gone viral on Facebook claims Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman endorsed the government’s new investment project. The video has been widely shared. However, our research indicates that the video has been AI altered and is being used to spread misinformation.
Claim:
The claim in this video suggests that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is endorsing an automotive system that promises daily earnings of ₹15,00,000 with an initial investment of ₹21,000.
Fact Check:
To check the genuineness of the claim, we used the keyword search for “Nirmala Sitharaman investment program” but we haven’t found any investment related scheme. We observed that the lip movements appeared unnatural and did not align perfectly with the speech, leading us to suspect that the video may have been AI-manipulated.
When we reverse searched the video which led us to this DD News live-stream of Sitharaman’s press conference after presenting the Union Budget on February 1, 2025. Sitharaman never mentioned any investment or trading platform during the press conference, showing that the viral video was digitally altered. Technical analysis using Hive moderator further found that the viral clip is Manipulated by voice cloning.
Conclusion:
The viral video on social media shows Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman endorsing the government’s new investment project as completely voice cloned, manipulated and false. This highlights the risk of online manipulation, making it crucial to verify news with credible sources before sharing it. With the growing risk of AI-generated misinformation, promoting media literacy is essential in the fight against false information.
- Claim: Fake video falsely claims FM Nirmala Sitharaman endorsed an investment scheme.
- Claimed On: Social Media
- Fact Check: False and Misleading
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Introduction
There has been a recent surge of misinformation all over social media, claiming that every Indian ought to receive an allowance of ₹2,000 under some "Prime Minister's scheme." The message, which has been circulated far and wide on almost all platforms-WhatsApp, Facebook, Telegram, etc.-has urged users to click on an unfamiliar link to claim the allowance in their bank accounts.
It would seem like a very attractive offer, especially at a time when common citizens are coping with rising costs of living. But upon further examination, it turns out to be an outright online scam. NewsMobile fact-checked the claim and confirmed that no such scheme exists. Thus, the message circulating is a scam that aims to mislead common citizens.
Such an incident is not isolated. Over the years, fraudulent posts falsely offering benefits in the name of the government or well-known brands have been on the rise. These scams are not just about misinformation-they take advantage of trust, lure people into clicking, and sharing personal info that poses serious risks to financial and personal security.
Anatomy of the Viral PM Scheme Scam
The viral message received attention and was written in Hindi. It read:
“सभी नागरिकों को PM योजना के तहत दो हज़ार रुपए का भत्ता प्रदान किया गया है अपने bank खाते में प्राप्त करने के लिए click करें."
(English: “All citizens have been provided an allowance of ₹2000 under the PM scheme. Click to receive it in your bank account.”)
Beneath this was an odd link that, upon clicking through investigation, turned out to be not working and invalid. An examination of government sites, official handle accounts, and other such was done and no announcement for any such allowance was found.
This provides a neat explanation of a phishing attempt by which a scammer induces urgency and temptation in order to lure citizens into clicking a malicious link. While the link may no longer be active, it could very well have once redirected users to websites that harvest personal information such as Aadhaar numbers, bank details, or login credentials.
The Broader Problem: Fake Government Scheme Scams
Some scams have been exploiting the hoax gimmick of the ₹2,000 PM scheme into the wider trend. How do the con men work? They leverage the credibility of governmental initiatives to scam citizens. In the past, fake promises were made concerning free gas cylinders, cash allowances, subsidised rations, or even job opportunities.
During the COVID times, for instance, fake vaccination registration links and so-called relief scheme offers went viral, preying on the fears and vulnerabilities of ill-informed citizens. Likewise, false schemes associated with reputed companies such as Amazon, Flipkart, TATA Group, and Hermès have also gone viral, promising free gifts or allowances.
The one thing that makes scams associated with the government very dangerous is the exploitation of people's trust in authority. The common citizen is predisposed to believe the PM scheme or the Government Yojana because of the social credibility accorded to these announcements.
How These Scams Operate
These are scams where the creators intend deception and in the end, gain from defrauding a person. Fraudsters first create clickbait messages that are duly recorded to resemble official communications and often bear the government logos and bear a mix of Hindi-English text with the phrase "Pradhan Mantri Yojana" to make it sound legitimate. The messages then redirect users to bogus websites that really look very much like the government's portals, asking sick persons to enter personal information. Finally, as soon as they have obtained this data, the scammer uses it for identity theft, bank fraud, or sells it on the dark web. Social engineering does play a large role in these scams: here terms of urgency like limited time, last chance, and whatnot get created with the aim of pushing the targets to act on these without thinking. For maximum reach, victims are also asked to forward the message to their friends and family, causing the scammer to go viral across WhatsApp, Facebook, and Telegram.
Risks to Citizens
Risks are serious and manifold to falling prey to these scams. The immediate kind of risk is financial loss: divulging bank account details, an OTP, or credentials may constitute providing attackers the power to drain funds therefrom. Another prevalent kind of identity theft occurs through hijacked Aadhaar, PAN, or personal information that subsequently finds its way into fake loans or SIM activations. Apart from monetary losses, opening malicious links might also make devices infected with spyware or ransomware, thereby invading privacy and security. Victims tend to experience a form of psychological trauma due to feelings of betrayal or humiliation of being deceived, thus discouraging them from reporting, which in turn enables such scams to go undetected.
Best Practices for Prevention
It is prudent to exercise good cyber hygiene and be on the lookout for such scams. The citizens should verify each statement against government-authorised websites like https://www.mygov.in or through press statements of the ministries prior to believing it. One should not click on suspicious links offering money, gifts, or subsidies. Red flags like poor grammar, an unofficial domain name, or too-good-to-be-true offers can enable one to identify the scam in time. Two-factor authentication, antivirus software updates, and securing devices can drastically lower the threat from the technical angle. Equally important is the reporting of issues: always report any suspicious activities to cybercrime.gov.in or to the nearest cyber cell so that the authorities may trace some pattern and issue advisories accordingly. Finally, one can do some good by sharing verified fact checks within their circles to build added strength against misinformation and scams.
Policy and Community Role
While individual awareness is important, collective action must be taken against these fake government scheme scams. Platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook, and X (Twitter) must tune up fraudsters' message detection mechanisms. In the meantime, Government Bodies must alert citizens periodically on new scams through their official handles/schemes and through community outreach.
Civil society and fact-checking agencies play an important role in dispelling frequently viral hoaxes. This work must be amplified to reach people's consciousness in regional languages for the very reason that in these terrain zones, forwarded messages are much more trusted.
Conclusion
The viral ₹2,000 PM scheme scam is a reminder that everything that is viral online cannot be trusted in toto. The scammers of the day are inventing newer scams to gain trust, spread misinformation, and extort innocent citizens.
The best defence will be awareness and alertness. Citizens must verify any claims through official channels before clicking on a link, sharing their data, or even acting upon it in any way. With proper cyber hygiene and avoiding suspicious messages, we can counterattack by reducing the percentage of impact that these scams may have and collaboratively build a secure digital environment.
As India pushes itself further into a digital ecosystem, both empowering and being resilient to cyber fraud is not a state of individual security, but a national agenda.
References
- https://www.newsmobile.in/nm-fact-checker/fact-check-viral-post-claiming-pm-scheme-offering-rs-2000-allowance-is-a-scam/
- https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/financial-literacy/investing/beware-of-deepfake-scams-fraudsters-using-ai-videos-to-push-schemes-promising-unrealistic-returns-red-flags-to-watch-out-for/articleshow/124085155.cms
- https://www.business-standard.com/finance/personal-finance/invest-rs-21-000-to-earn-rs-20-lakh-monthly-viral-videos-of-fm-are-fake-125082000517_1.html
- https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2124728
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Executive Summary
A video showing a monkey allegedly saving the life of a sleeping child is rapidly going viral on social media. In the clip, a monkey can be seen picking up a child sleeping on a mat under a tree and moving the child away moments before a heavy tree branch falls at the same spot. Social media users are sharing the video as a “miracle of nature” and praising the emotional sensitivity and instincts of animals. However, research conducted by CyberPeace Research Wing found that the viral video is not real and was created using artificial intelligence tools.
Claim
The caption accompanying the viral post states:“In a shocking incident, a monkey was seen stepping in to save an innocent child sleeping under a tree from imminent danger. People nearby were stunned by the scene. It is being claimed that the monkey sensed the danger around the child and tried to protect him. The unusual incident has now gone viral on social media, with many saying that emotions and compassion are not limited to humans, animals can also understand feelings.”
The video has been widely shared across social media platforms
- https://www.instagram.com/reels/DYMvhRPTcCA/
- https://archive.ph/https://www.instagram.com/reels/DYMvhRPTcCA/
Fact Check
To verify the authenticity of the video, we extracted keyframes from the clip and conducted a reverse image search. During the research, we found the same video uploaded on May 8, 2026, on an Instagram page named Instagram user “mojilo_vandro.” The caption of the original upload did not provide any factual context and presented the video in a dramatic, miracle-like manner.
We further examined the Instagram account and found that it regularly posts several AI-generated videos featuring monkeys performing heroic or emotional acts. Importantly, the account owner has also identified themselves as an “AI video creator” in the bio section.
To further analyze the clip, we tested it using the AI detection tool Hive Moderation. The tool’s analysis classified the viral video as 85.6% likely to be AI-generated. We also checked the clip using another AI detection platform, Deepfake-o-meter. Its AVSRDD (2025) detection model flagged the video as potentially AI-generated with a 100% confidence score.
Conclusion
The evidence gathered during our research clearly shows that the viral video claiming to show a monkey saving a sleeping child from a falling tree branch is not authentic. The clip was created using AI-generated visual techniques and does not depict a real incident.
A video of Bollywood actor Salman Khan is being widely circulated on social media, in which he can allegedly be heard saying that he will soon join Asaduddin Owaisi’s party, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM). Along with the video, a purported image of Salman Khan with Asaduddin Owaisi is also being shared. Social media users are claiming that Salman Khan is set to join the AIMIM party.
CyberPeace research found the viral claim to be false. Our research revealed that Salman Khan has not made any such statement, and that both the viral video and the accompanying image are AI-generated.
Claim
Social media users claim that Salman Khan has announced his decision to join AIMIM.On 19 January 2026, a Facebook user shared the viral video with the caption, “What did Salman say about Owaisi?” In the video, Salman Khan can allegedly be heard saying that he is going to join Owaisi’s party. (The link to the post, its archived version, and screenshots are available.)
Fact Check:
To verify the claim, we first searched Google using relevant keywords. However, no credible or reliable media reports were found supporting the claim that Salman Khan is joining AIMIM.
In the next step of verification, we extracted key frames from the viral video and conducted a reverse image search using Google Lens. This led us to a video posted on Salman Khan’s official Instagram account on 21 April 2023. In the original video, Salman Khan is seen talking about an event scheduled to take place in Dubai. A careful review of the full video confirmed that no statement related to AIMIM or Asaduddin Owaisi is made.
Further analysis of the viral clip revealed that Salman Khan’s voice sounds unnatural and robotic. To verify this, we scanned the video using AURGIN AI, an AI-generated content detection tool. According to the tool’s analysis, the viral video was generated using artificial intelligence.
Conclusion
Salman Khan has not announced that he is joining the AIMIM party. The viral video and the image circulating on social media are AI-generated and manipulated.
