Mumbai, April 24: BSE Limited, India's premier stock exchange, has issued a fresh and urgent warning to investors after a fourth deepfake video featuring its Managing Director and CEO, Sundararaman Ramamurthy, resurfaced on social media and messaging platforms on Friday, April 24, 2025. The fabricated video falsely depicts Ramamurthy offering stock market tips and promising extraordinary investment returns — a pattern that has now repeated four times in just four months.

What the Deepfake Video Claims

The fraudulent video, crafted using advanced deepfake technology, falsely presents BSE's MD & CEO Sundararaman Ramamurthy as endorsing specific stocks for quick gains. It also urges viewers to join private WhatsApp and Telegram groups for so-called 'exclusive' investment tips — a classic hallmark of organised financial fraud operations targeting retail investors.

BSE has categorically stated that the video is entirely fabricated, malicious, and deliberately deceptive. The exchange confirmed that neither Ramamurthy nor any official of BSE provides stock tips, investment advice, or operates any messaging groups or channels of this nature.

Fourth Incident in Four Months — A Dangerous Pattern

What makes this alert particularly alarming is the frequency. BSE confirmed this is the fourth such deepfake incident in the past four months, signalling a calculated and escalating misuse of the institution's credibility and its top executive's identity. This is no longer an isolated incident — it reflects a coordinated and repeat effort by scammers to exploit public trust in India's most recognised stock exchange.

The pattern also points to the growing sophistication of financial fraud in India's digital ecosystem, where AI-generated deepfake content is increasingly weaponised to lure unsuspecting retail investors into fraudulent schemes. Experts have noted that such tactics are particularly effective because they exploit the credibility of well-known financial institutions and their leaders.

BSE's Official Response and Legal Action

BSE has reiterated its zero-tolerance stance, stating it is taking swift action to have the content removed from all platforms where it is circulating. The exchange has further announced that it will initiate strict legal proceedings against those found responsible for creating and distributing the deepfake video.

The exchange urged investors to remain extremely cautious and to avoid engaging with, forwarding, or acting upon such videos, messages, or suspicious links. It advised the public to rely exclusively on information shared through official BSE channels and intermediaries registered with SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India).

SEBI-Backed Investor Awareness and the Finfluencer Threat

BSE also highlighted its ongoing investor awareness campaign conducted under SEBI's guidance, which specifically targets the rising threat posed by fraudulent schemes, fake investment advice, and so-called 'finfluencers' — unregistered social media personalities who peddle financial advice without regulatory oversight.

The exchange recently launched a nationwide campaign to educate retail investors about these dangers. This initiative is part of a broader regulatory push by SEBI to crack down on unregistered investment advisors and pump-and-dump schemes that have proliferated across YouTube, Instagram, Telegram, and WhatsApp.

Notably, SEBI has been increasingly aggressive in this space — having issued multiple circulars and enforcement actions against finfluencers and unauthorised advisory platforms in recent years. The BSE deepfake incidents align with a nationwide surge in cyber financial fraud that the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) has flagged as a top-priority threat in 2024–25.

What Investors Must Do

Investors who encounter such videos are strongly advised to report them immediately to BSE through its official website, to SEBI's SCORES portal, or to the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (cybercrime.gov.in). Do not share, forward, or act on any investment advice received through unofficial channels, regardless of how authentic the video may appear.

As deepfake technology becomes more accessible and convincing, the risk of financial fraud through AI-generated content is expected to intensify. Regulatory bodies and stock exchanges will likely need to invest in real-time AI detection tools and platform-level takedown mechanisms to stay ahead of these threats — a challenge that will define investor protection in India's digital-first financial future.